Shining a Light in the Midst of Two Pandemics
This issue of ECS Today focuses on how Every Child Succeeds has mobilized to address the two pandemics of 2020, deploying compassion-in-action to confront racism and social inequity. We hope you will read two important documents. The first is an opinion column in The Cincinnati Herald (July 31, 2020) co-written by Jim Spurlino, ECS board chair; Judith Van Ginkel, ECS president; and Karissa Morton, ECS family service representative. The Herald is available at Kroger, Walgreens and UDF, among several other locations.
The second document is our updated values statement regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. You will hear more as we identify priority goals and action steps for continuing to put our values into practice.
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ECS Receives a Handwritten Note from Gov. DeWine!
Dr. VanGinkel,
Thank you for the nice letter and for including notes from and about some of the families you all serve. I just read each note. We will continue to support Help Me Grow! Thank you and your team for all you do.
Mike
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Social Support in a Time of Social Distancing
"The single strongest Prozac out there is social support. It's the single best emotion manager..." So proclaimed the head of the Metropolitan Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Manhattan in a recent article in The New Yorker magazine.
ECS has provided social support for 1,330 families during the four months since the March lockdown due to COVID-19. During the same period, the program provided more than 12,500 visits. Visits may look different (see Tricia's story below) but the connections remain strong.
We are coming to accept that COVID-19 will be a reality for some time to come. Thanks to our amazing, tenacious, flexible and persevering home visitors, we will continue to deliver the program with excellence and care, following the health and safety guidance from Ohio and Kentucky.
A few quotes from moms speak to the impact the home visitors are having in reducing stress during the pandemic:
"I want to thank you for everything you do for myself and my children. Being a single mother, it helps greatly, not even just the physical help but the emotional help is something I am grateful for!"
"I want to say thank you so, so much for the visits and drop offs. It helps me and my family so much. And it also relieves so much stress with all this stuff going on."
"It's tough being at home. The video chats help us touch base and keep us sane when we're home all the time with one another."
Yes, we concur, social support matters!
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Staying Close to Families--Sometimes from Far Away
Tricia Shaffer is one of our many dedicated home visitors who has been providing virtual visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked her what the experience has been like, and what she misses most.
How are you and your team still serving ECS families?
We are doing visits by phone and online videoconferencing, as well as communicating by text and making drop-offs. During drop-off visits, I leave essential items for families like diapers, wipes, phone assistance cards, books, pantry items and handouts. We wear masks and are very careful to maintain social distancing during these drop offs.
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Like all of our home visitors, Tricia is finding ways to connect with ECS families in the midst of COVID-19.
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During video calls, we can see mom and baby interacting which is important to our role as home visitors. It is not the same but it is the best safest option. During phone calls, this interaction is much harder to assess. I have been using a new Healthy Families America resource to guide my questions during phone visits to gauge how mom and baby/toddlers are really doing with the stress of living during a pandemic. Before I was given this guide I was really struggling with the phone visits.
What do you miss most?
I deeply miss seeing my ECS families. I miss interacting with babies and toddlers. I miss their laughs and smiles. One of the hardest things is that I have had two young women deliver their babies since March and it doesn't feel right that I haven't held their babies, or have seen them in person with their babies. It saddens me to not know when I will see them.
Do you feel like you are making a difference?
After the initial adjustment to virtual visits, I started to wonder if I could really make a difference when I was not seeing families in their homes. I was missing that job satisfaction that comes when you help people. But one day, a new mom called me because she was having difficulty breastfeeding. Together we worked through the issues of latching, soreness, and supply and demand. My phone support helped her to get back on track and she successfully breastfed for weeks after. That was sort of a turning point for me. I felt I could be helpful and positively support my families to reach their goals.
What have you learned through this experience so far?
The transition was very difficult for me and my families, but we have adapted. This ability to adjust to these changes is a positive. If we are adapting and still accomplishing our goals during a pandemic, then we can use that to make it through future tough times.
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BCESC Hits the Road for Graduation
When ECS families can't go to the agency for graduation, the agency goes to them for graduation! Butler County Educational Service Center (BCESC) staff created a special celebration for its 24 graduates, making large gift bags for everyone that included a graduation certificate, framed picture of mom and baby, developmentally appropriate toys, preschool backpacks, books, bubbles, paper and crayons, a kite, beach ball and more! Instead of the traditional cake, they delivered custom cookies for each family to enjoy together. The event was exciting for families and staff members alike. BCESC home visitor Kelly Backer said, "On a personal note, this was my first group of graduates, so it was a special year for me. These were the first families I began working with when I became an ECS home visitor. To see these families' successes from start to finish has been an amazing blessing!" Thank you, BCESC, for creating a memorable celebration for all!
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Program Notes
Thank you, Heidi Sullivan! Heidi served as an ECS home visitor par
excellence at GCB for 13 years, serving 191 families through 5,070 home visits and working a stint as a supervisor as well. Heidi left ECS in January 2020 to join the social work team at TriHealth. A home visitor at heart, she now uses her passion for the program to make referrals to us. We salute Heidi for her dedicated service, unyielding commitment to ECS moms and continued support!
We mourn the loss of Janet Karnes, an ECS pioneer who led implementation of the ECS program at Pathways to Home from January 2000 until 2008. A visionary, inspiring leader, she was first among equals -- smart, innovative, committed and creative. She built a top-notch team and did everything with care and excellence. Her legacy lives on today at ECS and at Pathways, where some of the current staff who were hired by Janet still serve. She will be long remembered. Read a tribute to Janet on the Pathways to Home website.
The Centers for Disease Control offers extensive resources about child neglect and abuse, and highlights home visitation as a strategy for prevention. Learn more.
Congratulations to the following staffers, who celebrated anniversaries from April through July. We appreciate all that you do! 21 years: Judy Brown (BC) and Lois Bradford (STE) 20 years: Joy Theetge* (STE) 19 years: Shelby Samulak (YF)
18 years: Tracy (Buckler) Ripberger (STE)
17 years: Valerie Calloway* (YF), Diana Raabe (PW) and Holly Shepherd (CH) 15 years: Sandra Thomas* (CH)
12 years: Maria Tenjo (BC)
10 years: Beth Heeter* (ECS) 8 years: Jennifer Re (PW)
6 years: Tiffany Hill* (PW)
5 years: Lindsay Brown and Monica de Lemos Negron (CH), Jasma Warner (SM), Jodie Hall (BC), Diane Jensen (BCESC), Teri Wilde (STE), April Krekeler (PW)
4 years: Rosario Ramirez (BCESC), Stasia West (CH), Taylor McKenzie (BC) and Latia Houston (PW)
3 years: Kelly Backer (BCESC)
1 year: Myra Costello (STE); Sylvia Castellanos-Flynn (CH), Karissa Morton (ECS), Erin Kendall and Kiersten Odum (GCB) * These staff were employed by multiple ECS providers and/or had a break in service
The NFP team doesn't let social distancing get them down! Here they are enjoying a lighter moment during a Zoom case conference, sporting their NFP-themed face coverings.
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