The Weekly Briefing
| Welcome to The Weekly Briefing, featuring news from Children's Futures, updates about our community partners' activities and links to recent news articles about early childhood health and development. | |
| Volume 2, Number 3 | January 18, 2007 |
In This Issue
- News from Children's Futures
- Trenton Residents Help Schools
- Consumer Coalition Examines Barriers to Care
- Good Sports for a Great Cause
- Links to News Articles
- Area Pays Tribute to Dr. King
- Low Glucose Most Likely in Early Diabetic Pregnancy
- Doctors Alone Can't Solve Kids' Weight Problems
- Community Activities
- CitySmiles Offers Program Information for Children and Families
- PrimeTime Tour Returns Featuring Trenton Schools
- Fair for Parents to Learn about Abbott Pre-Schools
News from Children's Futures
Trenton Residents Help Schools
Trenton residents who comprise Children's Futures' Key Communicators' Advisory Group lent their backing last month (Volume 1, Number 31) for the school systems' efforts to secure federal government funds to help students get to and from school safely. The state Department of Transportation has now added its support to a plan to help Trenton receive federal "Safe Routes to Schools" funding. According to Juan Martinez, community liaison coordinator for the school system, "The support of community groups is key to making change in Trenton. We know that our ability to get the attention of state and federal officials is the next step. Children's Futures' Key Communicators' initial participation and their continued connections to other residents will certainly benefit this process going forward."
"We are in this together and Children's Futures is a big piece of the city," added Martinez, who is also founder and president of COLO (Council of Latino Organizations) in Mercer County.
Trenton Schools' community liaison coordinator Juan Martinez (far left) looks on as assistant school superintendent Dr. David Weathington explains the safe schools initiative to some of the residents at last month's Children's Futures' Key Communicators meeting held at the Trenton Board of Education.
Consumer Coalition Examines Barriers to Care
Pregnant women and mothers of infants and toddlers described personal accounts of the barriers to services they and their families face during Monday night's Trenton Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies (HM/HB) Consumer Coalition meeting. Children's Futures' Healthy Start Grant project director and Nurse Family Partnership supervisor June Gray joined HM/HB supervisor of Trenton community initiatives Brenda Tift in helping attendees discover resources to address issues like finding affordable housing, enrolling in Medicaid and participating in prevention services to reduce involvement in families by the state's child protection agency. "Moms and moms-to-be in Trenton face some critical issues on a daily basis. Things like having reliable transportation, something that many people take for granted, can really impact a family's independence," said Gray. "This becomes even more pronounced when young children are involved, " she added. The Consumer Coalition works at the grassroots level to improve access to services and care for pregnant and parenting women. For additional information about this Consumer Coalition or any of HM/HB's activities, please contact Brenda Tift at 394-7454 or email btift@cnjmchc.org
At Monday's Trenton Consumer Coalition Meeting at Princeton Deliverance Church, HM/HB supervisor of Trenton community initiatives Brenda Tift (R) asked mothers and pregnant women about the daily barriers they face in trying to access service and care for their families.
Good Sports for a Great Cause
Sometimes a child's smile says it all. At the Children's Futures' East Ward Family Success/Parent Child Center last week, two visitors offered their support for the parents and children taking part in the center's activities. Above, an East Ward parent and her children meet mascots (L) Clash of the Trenton Devils and Boomer from the 2007 Eastern League champion Trenton Thunder.
Links to News Articles
Area Will Pay Tribute to King with Discussions and Dance
Local events celebrating the life and accomplishments of Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr. are listed by The Times of Trenton.
Low Glucose Most Likely in Early Diabetic Pregnancy
Reuters Health describes the incidence of mild or severe declines
in blood glucose (hypoglycemia) in early pregnancy among pregnant
women with type 1 diabetes.
Stressed Out Mom Brings on Asthma in Kid
A mothers' stress can increase a child's risk for asthma according
to this report from Ivanhoe Newswire.
Doctors
Alone Can't Solve Kids' Weight Problems
Physician Victoria McEvoy writes in the Boston Globe about every
citizen's responsibility to help fight the childhood obesity
epidemic.
Community Activities
Ongoing Activities Throughout the Year for Children and Families: For more information about community programs, please contact CitySmiles at Lkasabach@aol.com.
January 2008
Saturday, January 26:
CHANGE COALITION General Meeting: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.; Trenton Board of Education, Ellis Auditorium, 108 N. Clinton Avenue. Residents and representatives from Trenton organizations interested in improving the public schools invited to attend.
Latino Reform Youth Council (First Meeting): 7 p.m.; 100 S. Clinton Avenue. For more information, please call 609-529-8448.
February 2008
Saturday, February 9 and Sunday February 10:
PrimeTime Shootout High School Basketball Tournament: Day and evening Games; Sovereign Bank Arena. Trenton Central and Trenton Catholic High Schools will participate. For more information, please email Jeff Hewitson at jhewitson@dewberry.com.
Tuesday, February 12:
Pre-Kindergarten Fair for parents to learn about the Abbott Preschool Programs featuring NJ Family Care Sign-Ups: free; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trenton Board of Education, Ellis Auditorium, 108 N. Clinton Avenue. Community organizations are encouraged to secure a table to provide information about their services for families. For more information, please call the Office of Early Childhood at 609-656-4900 ext. 5709 or email dholguin@trenton.k12.nj.us.
Tuesday, February 19:
Start of Centralized Preschool Registration for all three and four year olds: free; beginning at 8:30 a.m., Trenton Board of Education, 108 N. Clinton Avenue. For more information, please call the Office of Early Childhood at 609-656-4900 ext. 5709 or email dholguin@trenton.k12.nj.us. Trenton parents wishing to make a registration appointment for children who turn three or four by September 30th 2008 should call 609-656 4900 ext. 5667.
For a complete calendar of events, please refer to our calendar page.
About Children's Futures
Established in 2001 with major support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Children's Futures is a nonprofit organization that works city-wide in Trenton, N.J. to improve child health and development outcomes. Through an unprecedented collaboration among public agencies and nonprofit organizations, Children's Futures seeks to strengthen parenting, increase access to primary quality health care and child care systems, and increase social supports for families, so that every child in Trenton enters preschool healthy and ready to learn.