By Staff
The Coalition for a Healthier Escambia County and its guests filled a room on Thursday, Aug. 19, to discuss what groups in the county are doing to promote early intervention and better parenting. Present were representatives from Sav A Life, Noah's Ark, Lower Alabama Pediatrics, Right From Birth, Kids and Kin, the Child Advocacy Center, Hope Place, Poarch Creek Indians, Escambia County Schools, Head Start, Brewton Area YMCA, D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital, Rainbow Family Resource Center, Escambia County Health Department, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Bright Start Project, Atmore Family Life Center, People United Community Coalition and St. Stephen's Preschool.
All took a few minutes to describe how the programs they work with create parenting and educational resources for children, parents and families.
Throughout the county, there is a wealth of these resources available to families, but a disconnect exists between those who need the services and those who provide them. Meetings like this one of the Coalition are a step toward filling all family service providers in on what's available so that they can share that knowledge with the clients they come into contact with.
Several of the same people involved in the projects listed above were instrumental in bringing a new resource to the county in the form of KidOne, mentioned in this edition of The Standard. In addition to literacy programs, parenting workshops, counseling services, children and parents in this county will soon have access to reliable transportation when those children need to see a doctor. Not owning a car is another in a long list of disadvantages that some mothers and children in this county face, but with KidOne, that should no longer prevent those children from receiving medical care.
And with the groups mentioned here working for families in this county, many more disadvantages can be alleviated.