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Military parents join ranks of heroes at home for the children of warriors 090217

Image by familymwr
PHOTO CAPTION: Peter Thayer watches as Parent Educator Kajsa Blansett teaches Emily, 15 months (left) and Rhys, 3, how make tie-dye butterflies with coffee filters, water and food coloring, using eye droppers.
- Photo by Rob McIlvaine, FMWRC Public Affairs
www.armymwr.com
Military parents join ranks of heroes at home for the children of warriors 090217
By Rob McIlvaine
FMWRC Public Affairs
“Heroes at Home,” a military partnership with the Parents as Teachers (PAT) National Center, serving military Families at 12 garrisons since 2006, will be expanded this year to serve Families at 24 more garrisons.
This expansion includes additional parent educators, training, technical support and outreach to states heavily impacted by National Guard and Army Reserve deployments at military sites where Parents as Teachers-Heroes at Home (PAT-HAH) programs are already in place as well as the development of PAT-HAH programs in new locations across the country.
“Our mission is caring and it’s a mission we take very seriously,” said Shirley A. Young, Child and Youth Specialist with the U.S. Army Child, Youth and School (CYS) Services Center of Expertise who oversees staff training. “Supporting military Families, particularly those with very young children, strengthens our Army Families, our service members and our nation.”
The mission is more important rrisons into “revolving doors” for Soldiers, according to Young.
Almost half of all active service members have children, with nearly 40% of these children under the age of five. Because more than a third of first-time military parents are 21 or younger, the pressure to recognize the child’s needs and where to go for help while serving our country becomes intensified. Online Cialis
“As a military Family, we lose our support network because of deployments and changes of station. As a result, we do not have the immediate assistance of Family and friends,” said Melinda Thayer, a mom of three at Fort Bragg, N.C. HAH provides a support network, teaches us activities so we can interact with our children, and helps keep us balanced through the extreme changes we experience as a military Family,”
Melinda and her husband, Capt. Peter Thayer, Delta Company, 90th Civil Affairs, first joined PAT-HAH at Fort Lewis, Wash., two years prior to being transferred to Fort Bragg. Although she had been in the Army, Melinda left active duty before they began having children.
Integral to the success of PAT-HAH are the Parent Educators, many of whom are military family members, who step up to help their fellow parents.
Kajsa Blansett has been a PE for two years. She previously worked as buy amoxicillin a pre-school teacher at the Child Development Center (CDC) in Vilseck, Germany when she was stationed there with her husband, 1st Sgt. Chad Blansett.
“When I got to Fort Bragg,” recalled Blansett, “I started looking for a job and saw an ad about the Parent Educator program, so I called up and spoke with Dr. Janet Crow. She filled me in on what the program was all about, and I became inspired.”
Dr. Crow, PhD, CFLE, recently joined Baylor University as a faculty member in the Child and Family Studies program. She was the PAT National Center project manager for “Heroes at Home” working with DoD and the Army to implement the pilot programs at the original 12 military installations. Currently, the project manager coordinating with Shirley Young at the national center is Kate DeKoning.
Crow’s 20-year career in childhood development, education and Family support (with 11 years specifically serving military Families,) in addition to being a military spouse, herself has given her inside expertise into the U.S. military, military Families, deployments and how the military lifestyle affects young children.
“Heroes at Home was her baby,” Blansett said. “Her vision was to have the program at all military installations so that when military families move from one garrison to another, the program would already be in place and could pick you up where you left off.”
“I went to the week-long training in St. Louis and learned how to work with Families and give them emotional support by building on each Family’s strengths through home visits,” Blansett said. “For me, this job is so rewarding. You see the difference you can make in their lives, immediately.”
Deployed parents enrolled in the program (Blansett visits 38 families per month) receive updates about their child’s development monthly. They also receive handouts on topics such as preparing for deployment, staying connected during the deployment, and preparation for reuniting after a deployment is complete. Information is provided through email or through regular mail to a parent’s deployment location as well as to the home.
“We also take videos of the family to send downrange to the deployed service member,” said Blansett.
For two years now, PAT-HAH has served hundreds of military families at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Leavenworth, Kan.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Stewart, Ga.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Lewis, Wash.; Fort Wainwright, Ala.; Camp LeJeune, N.C.; Whiteman AFB, Mo.; and Norfolk Naval Station, Va.
Under the new contract, these 12 programs will continue with 24 additional sites added in the first year.
By the end of the first quarter, 2009, the following ten sites will be implemented: Fort Richardson, Ala.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Polk, La.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Bliss, Texas; and Fort Eustis and Fort Story in Virginia. Fourteen more sites will follow later in the year.
PAT-HAH is based on the premise that parents are the first and best teachers. Following an intense certification process at the PAT National Center where PEs take the “Born to Learn” course, these parent educators will be able to help other military parents mitigate risk factors of military lifestyle, repeated deployments, separation and geographic single parenting.
“Before we enrolled with PAT-HAH, I was getting parenting advice by phone and struggling with being away from my friends and family and the help they could provide,” Capt. Thayer said. “No amount of talking about parenting can teach as much as the advice our Parent Educator can give on effective ways to speak to a child so she will listen.”
Heroes at Home Parent Educators are also trained in ways to facilitate continued connections between parents and their children during separations; improve parenting practices, enhanced parent-child interactions, and increased parent competence and confidence. PE’s help with early detection of developmental delays and other health issues, help prevent child abuse and neglect and increase school readiness and academic success by facilitating strong parent/school partnerships.
“We initially contacted PAT because our daughter was fighting us to get her way,” Melinda Thayer said. “Our PAT educator taught us by example how to interact with our daughter. I miss not being able to raise my children surrounded by my parents, relatives, and friends. PAT has helped our Family gain access to social activities for our children, demonstrated wonderful ways to teach our children through play, and has referred us on to other programs when our son needed extra assistance.”
“At many sites, we have been able to keep fathers or mothers who are currently stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan connected with what’s going on at home through webcams and video conferencing,” Young said.
The expansion of the program will not only provide additional support for military families with infants and toddlers, it will allow families to consistently receive Parents as Teachers services as they relocate around the country.
Stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky are Jessica Bryan and her son, Adrian. Her husband, Spc. Dave Bryan is currently deployed to Afghanistan.
“I know that our Parent Educator Angie Enlow and Parents as Teachers will never replace Family, but they are a close second,” Jessica said. “Dave and I, and our son, Adrian, are truly happier people to be part of a program made for military families like us."
Parents as Teachers National Center is the resource base and backbone of Parents as Teachers, based in St. Louis. It is a parent education and early childhood development program serving parents from pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten, usually age five.
The nonprofit National Center oversees approximately 3,000 programs offering Parents as Teachers services nationwide as well as in several other countries. Heroes at Home program is customized to address the needs of military Families, and is just one of the programs offered by PAT.
If military parents are seeking help but an HAH program is not available, they should check with Army Community Services to see if a similar service is available on their garrison.
For more information about Parents as Teachers, visit
www.parentsasteachers.org.
Fwd: Vigil pics

Image by 350.org
**
*
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2009
Media Contacts:
Nigeria/Ghana: Nkiruka Nnaemego, fbinaija@yahoo.com, +234(0)8053647180
Copenhagen: Jamie Henn, jamie@350.org +45 52 68 47 65
New York: Lisa Michelle, lisa@avaaz.org + 1 347 278 3763
***
*AFRICA* *JOINS THOUSANDS OF CLIMATE DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE TO PUSH
FOR “REAL DEAL” IN COPENHAGEN*
*This Weekend, Citizens in Over 130 Countries Unite with Candlelight Vigils
to Call for Progress in Copenhagen Climate Talks*
Accra / Tesano: This weekend, from the 11th to the 13th of December,
millions of people will hold rallies and candlelight vigils in over 130
countries to call for progress in the Copenhagen climate talks. The events,
coordinated by hundreds of civil society groups under the banner of the
TckTckTck campaign, will be held from Kinshasa to Kathmandu and in
Copenhagen itself.
“We’re joining with people around the world to remind politicians that for
many, ending the climate crisis is a matter of survival. We need a real deal
in Copenhagen, not greenwash,” said Nkiruka Nnaemego from _Nigeria.
[image: Your browser may not support display of this image.]These
demonstrations will draw a line between success and failure at the ongoing
Copenhagen Climate Conference by calling for a 3-point “Real Deal”.
Supporters are asking for all countries to urgently sign a climate agreement
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*a) Fair* – by securing 0 billion in climate financing for poorer
countries
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*c) Binding* – legally enforceable
At a special vigil at the culmination of a giant march in Copenhagen on
Saturday the 12th, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu will be joined by
former Irish President Mary Robinson and other climate movement leaders to
deliver a global citizens’ message to negotiators and leaders. Tutu will
urge leaders to take bold action, reminding them that “millions of people,
especially the very poor, are already suffering due to changing weather
patterns, droughts and floods. None of us will be immune from climate change
– we are all in this together and there is no time to lose.”
At many vigils, citizens will be forming the number 350 out of candlelight.
Many scientists, climate experts and progressive national governments are
now saying that 350 parts per million is the safe upper limit for carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere. The number 350 has become a symbol of climate
action since a massive global day of demonstrations organized by the
environmental group 350.org on October 24th.
Bill McKibben, US environmentalist and founder of 350.org says, "People of
every faith, rich and poor, on every continent have spoken clearly in the
last few months, rallying around the 350 target. Ordinary citizens
understand the science. Our leaders have no excuse for not producing a deal
that meets the scale of the crisis.”
Highlights from the weekend of action will include a giant 350 made of
candles at the historic Roman Amphitheater in Amman, Jordan; vigils at
nearly every Senator’s office in the United States, to put pressure on the
US to commit to strong emissions reductions; and, on Sunday, hundreds of
churches ringing their bells 350 times, including the Lutheran Cathedral in
downtown Copenhagen. A online levitra complete list of event highlights can be found on
the 350.org website.
So far over 10 million people have signed on to the “Real Deal” as part of
the online TckTckTck campaign. Kumi Naidoo, Chair of TckTckTck said "This
weekend pressure on global leaders will rise as people gather on every
continent in a massive global amoxicillin online day of action on climate change.”
Ricken Patel, Executive Director of global campaign network Avaaz.org, one
of the organizations driving the global day of action says “The day of
action shows the huge level of public concern that negotiations are falling
short of the Real Deal that is needed to avert climate catastrophe.”
*Date: 12**th** December 2009*
*Venue: *Crystal Palm Hotel, Tesano, Accra, Ghana
*Time:* 8pm
*ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS:*
*Fresh & Young Brains Development Initiative (FBI Nigeria)* was founded on
November 27th 2008 and is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission
of Nigeria as a non-political, non-profit making and non-governmental
organization. We advance attitudes, policies and actions that promote
justice, social inclusion, social responsibility, environmental
sustainability and meaningful participation for young people in Nigeria and
beyond and encourage a more positive Youth-Adult Exchange. *
www.fbi-nigeria.org* .
*About WACSI*
The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) was established by the Open
Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) to reinforce the capacities of
civil society in the region. The Institute is committed to bridging the
institutional and operational gaps within civil society.
Vision: To strengthen civil society organisations as strategic partners for
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sub-region. Mission: The objective of the Institute is to strengthen the
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principles in West Africa. The role of WACSI is to serve as a resource
centre for training, research, experience sharing and political dialogue for
CSOs in West Africa. The Institute makes its plea through policy dialogue to
discuss current issues affecting West African States. Reference documents
are regularly published by the Institute and disseminated to political
leaders/policy makers. *www.wacsi.org*
*About OSIWA*
The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) was created in December
2000 as part of the world network of 32 autonomous foundations founded and
supported by George Soros. These non-profit-making foundations share in the
commitment to work for an “open society”. Based on the principle that no one
has monopoly of the truth, an open society recognises the different points
of view and always remains open to improvements. In practice, open societies
are characterised by the priority of law, democracy, respect of diversity
and human rights, liberalisation of markets, information to the people and
the dynamism of civil society.***www.osiwa.org* * *
*About LGI-OSI*
The Local Government & Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) supports the
OSI No prescription viagra mission by working to promote democratic and effective governance and
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decision making in public affairs. LGI supports local and regional
governmental reform, in collaboration with its civil society partners, by
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providing analytical and technical support to government on the other.
While LGI works primarily in the transition countries of Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union, it has recently formed strategic partnerships with
other OSI programs and external institutions to implement programs in Asia
and Latin America and Sub Saharan Africa.
*http://lgi.osi.hu*
* *
*Our Partners:*
We appreciate the support given to us by the following individuals and
organizations:
High-resolution online pharmacy levitra photos will be available at: *
www.tcktcktck.org/photos*
Broadcast-quality video will be available from here: *
www.tcktcktck.org/video*
For general media information on the “World Wants a Real Deal,” visit:
www.tcktcktck.org/realdeal-media
*TckTckTck* is a coalition of major environmental and anti-poverty
organizations as well as faith, civic and youth networks campaign, named for
the ticking-clock urgency of climate change. It includes *350.org*,
Avaaz.org, Oxfam, Greenpeace, and WWF and calls for a new international
climate treaty that is fair, ambitious and binding. Over 10 million
individuals have already pledged support for the campaign online:
www.tcktcktck.org
*350.org* is an international climate campaign working for a real deal that
meets the latest science. According to many scientists, climate experts and
progressive national governments, the level of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere must be reduced from its current level of 389 ppm to 350 ppm in
order to avoid the worst effects of climate change. For more information
about 350.org and to connect with spokespeople around the world, please
visit: www.350.org