A day at the farm

The afternoon of Oct. 21st found the staff of Coordinating Council for Children in Crisis (CCCC) Nurturing Families Network headed to Norton Brothers Farm in Cheshire with their cars full of excited parents and young children.  As a way to encourage family bonding and expose children and parents to an array of activities outside of their communities, CCCC regularly organizes family field trips for NFN participants.  Families and kids love exploring new environments and just having time to relax, smile and laugh with each other.

Nurturing family bonds is an important objective in the NFN.  Most of our parents are young, unmarried and struggling to cope with their new role as a parent.  They need, and welcome, our help guiding them through areas of child development and healthy parenting.  Most were raised in unhealthy homes, and for too many, with abusive parents.  The NFN’s goal is to prevent child abuse, end the cycle of violence and enable children to thrive and succeed in life.

Noreen, one of our NFN home visitors, works with an isolated mother and her 8 month old baby.  The mother is from Africa and does not have family or friends close by.  This mother, according to Noreen, was thrilled to have the opportunity to leave her home, which she doesn’t do often, and be with other moms and kids.   Her baby could not stop smiling as she crawled around pumpkins with other children and rode on a hay ride.  These outings serve as a way to offer more enjoyable, stress free times for families in addition to their weekly home visits with CCCC staff.  They are always well attended and parents look forward to hearing about plans for the next event.