When Rosa is asked about what she has learned from the Healthy Families program, the mother of three responds, “What haven’t I learned?”
Healthy Families has helped me be a more interactive parent and learn to better respond to my children’s individual needs. Healthy Families is a voluntary in-home visiting program of Yavapai Regional Medical Center that is funded in part by First Things First. Through the program, families with young children ages birth to 5 receive regular visits from a family support specialist who provides individualized mentoring, parenting education and support such as assessing the development of the child and referring families to other community resources.
Rosa, mother of 5-year-old Jazmine, 4-year-old Matthew and 2-year-old Joshua, enrolled in Healthy Families soon after her youngest was born. There couldn’t have been a better time for her to discover the program. “At the time, I was new to the town and I had nobody,” said Rosa, who lives in Prescott Valley.
The information Rosa has learned from her in-home visits and the monthly playgroups for families that the program also provides has been invaluable to her. “This is a door to meet new people and know more about parenting and child development. Healthy Families has helped me be a more interactive parent and learn to better respond to my children’s individual needs.”
The program has been of great benefit to her personally, but Rosa knows that by becoming a more knowledgeable, responsive parent, it is her children that will benefit most. “My children are going to put into action what I am teaching them,” Rosa said. “I hope they grow to explore, try new things, and be strong.”