Family Partner Program

 

Kyle Knighton with his son.

“As members of the TKI community, let’s lean on each other to be the best parents we can be. ”
— Kyle Knighton, Family Partner
 

Dear Talitha Koum parents, 

Building children’s brains starts with your own needs. Like the sun hides on a cloudy day, stress can make it harder to provide the stability children need to develop their foundations for learning. So, we want every possible resource to be at your fingertips. 

When we feel that every day is dedicated to making ends meet, “the future” becomes limited to the next 24 hours. Education, career, and housing hopes can take a back seat to meeting current needs when our time and energy are limited. Our Family Partner offers encouragement and partnership for navigating rough waters to get your futures back into consideration. The Family Partner can be extra support encouraging you toward your goals or acting as a compass when you’re unsure where to turn next. Having support can make parenting a little easier. 

Making your own goals and deciding how to meet them can be tough. The support of the Family Partner and other parents who share many of the same stressors can help you recognize and satisfy your own needs. We want to reduce your stress, leaving extra time, energy, and space for positive moments with your children. The Family Partner program also helps you find and use community resources. All Talitha Koum families should have the freedom to build the future you want for yourself and your children.  

If you would like to participate or set up a meeting with Kyle, please contact him by email. He is also happy to visit with you when you drop off or pick up your child.

Our Family Partner Program offers: 

  • A monthly opportunity for you and staff to build community over a shared meal. With hopes to develop solidarity and deepen relationships, Parents Night gives you time to relax, discuss raising your children, and solidify the belief that no one is alone in their parenting journey. TKI staff and volunteers care for children in the gym and provide them with dinner while all parents enjoy time together. For a few hours, TKI takes care of caretakers. 

  • The Family Partner program provides an opportunity for you to learn about the growth of your children’s foundations for learning and how to support the process. Knowing why your child responds to situations makes it easier to understand them, react more positively, and strengthen parent-child connections. All of these may promote children’s brain health.

  • Talitha Koum’s Family Partner builds respectful and trusting relationships with TKI caregivers to support you in managing the stresses of life and to tag along with you through the journey of raising children. 

    Through surveys and individual listening sessions, the Family Partner will learn your goals for yourself and help to develop smaller goals to reach them. Whether your goal is more education, a better-paying job, or improved housing or transportation, the Family Partner helps to find and use community resources to work towards your goals, reduce stress, and leave you better prepared to handle any surprise emergencies.  

    Our Family Partner also offers optional home visits and can accompany you to appointments as extra support, such as at the doctor’s office or school visits for your older children.