Portola Family Connections
Portola Family Connections, established in 1993, provides parents and children in the Portola and Excelsior districts with opportunities to participate in health centered activities and classes, improving the mental and physical health of families and the community.
Portola is home to many immigrant families who are often struggling with life in a new country and surviving below the poverty line. Only two nonprofit organizations serve the needy area.
Portola Family Connections helps caregivers and families learn and practice sound child development and health behaviors. Children are involved in varied activities from literacy and math skills to physical activites and cooking classes, all led by expert therapists and qualified health workers in an atmosphere of community support and fun.
Executive Director, Maryann Fleming says, “All of Family Connections’ work is rooted in a holistic approach to health that addresses the developmental, physical, mental, emotional and social wellbeing of families in the community.”
More than 300 people each day pass through the center, which helps address the needs of children from birth through fifth grade. Programs are tailored for groups including grandparents raising children for the second time, and families for whom English is a second language.
The Metta Fund grant awarded in 2010 has allowed the center to launch the Healthy Connections Initiative, which integrates health education across existing programs into four categories – Nutrition, Physical Activity, Mental Health and Disease Prevention.
The grant has also allowed Family Connections to create a workforce well-being program, supporting its own staff members in understanding and modeling healthy behaviors. Through lunch-and-learn sessions, classes, and physical activity offerings, the center’s 38 employees can engage in the same rich experiences offered to community participants.
Portola Family Connections is participant-driven, designing programs that respond to families’ requests and needs, and measuring effectiveness through qualitative and quantitative surveys completed by the community.
For more information, please visit the Portola Family Connections website.
