An important community parental resource

Family Resource Center Open House, by A. David Dahmer

The Family Resource Center (FRC) of Dane County, an agency focused on developing the parental skills in the community so children can benefit, held an open house June 18 to show all of the positive programs that are hosted under their roof located at 810 W. Badger Rd.
"The objective of the Family Resource Center is to make sure that the parents have all of the skills that they need to be good parents," said FRC supervisor Romilia Schlueter, "and to create environments where kids can grow safe and thrive. Parents are a model for kids and children also learn by watching their parents. That's why we model to parents, so kids can have the benefit."
Concerned parents dropped in at the open house throughout the day to express their parenting-related questions and concerns. "There were lots of questions about discipline, questions about day care, questions about attachment, questions about child custody," Schlueter said. "There were just a lot of questions in general."
Last year the FRC served over 2,000 people at the center.
"There were a lot of people from the community, but also so many people from professional organizations throughout Dane County, "said FRC Coordinator Veronica Lazo. "We weren't expecting that many professional to come and they were very interested in what we do and wanted to partner with us. That was a pleasant surprise."
Participation in the center's activities helps parents discover new ways to manage their child's behavior, learn what to expect as their child grows, improve family relationships, learn to communicate better with their child, connect and share ideas with other parents, learn about community resources, and find opportunities for family fun.
The FRC hosts Parent Enrichment Workshops — two to four sessions which offer an in-depth look at a variety of parenting topics. The attendees decide which parenting topics are important to them and the FRC will put a workshop together.
"We use a program that is called ‘Nurturing Parenting,’ and the idea with this is to give all of the parents everything they need to be the best parents that they can be to make sure the children will grow up safe and healthy," Schlueter said. 
In "Nurturing Parents," the moms and dads learn why they should or should not do something with their children. "We don't just tell them, 'Don't do this,'" Schlueter said. "It's important they know the reasons why. For example, we teach the parents brain development and we show them how the baby's brain develops in the first year, so once they know that they know the reasons why they cannot shake the baby."
FRC also offers "Play and Learn," a two-hour program that is an opportunity to enjoy the company of other families and share parenting experiences. The program allows parents to support their child's creative talent through art. Creative projects promote early learning as well as fun times for the family.
"We model how children learn while they are playing," Schlueter said. "The child's play is the way to learn. Instead of just seeing the toys and playing, there is a specific prepared structure that parents can also use when they go home."
There is a Lending Library at the FRC with a wide variety of parenting information available as well as bilingual children's books and toys for children to use at home.
On top of everything, the FRC hosts family events throughout the year with fun activities that allow parents to spend quality time with their children in a fun atmosphere.
Schlueter stresses that the FRC is for everybody.
"We are located in Centro Hispano, but we are here to serve all communities," Schlueter said. "We have Blacks, Whites, Latinos. Right now, we don't have the capacity to serve Hmongs because we don't have the staff that speaks that language."
The FRC, which partners with parents and community resources to strengthen families in Dane County, is a great place for peer-to-peer sharing and support, Schlueter said.
"With the support groups that we have, it helps the parents to be more relaxed with each other because they are all peers and they can see that there are other people who are going through things that are very similar to what they are going through." 

For more information on the Family Resource Center, call 251-0355.