Here-To-Help Family Engagement Network Connects 726 Families

Stamford CT

14 November, 2021

6:31 PM

Description

Press release from Stamford Public Education Foundation: Nov. 14, 2021 A family of four moved to Stamford because mom received a job offer, and their future looked promising. However, due to COVID-19, mom eventually lost her job, leaving the family struggling for help and unaware of the community resources available to them in their new city. Here-to-Help network coordinators connected with the family and provided them with groceries, childcare, and technology support so that the children could engage in remote learning. In November 2020, while educational models were shifting between hybrid and virtual learning, the Stamford Public Education Foundation launched its Here-to-Help family engagement network to provide families like the Sandoval family with a centralized hub for easy access to resources and support services needed for their students to succeed and thrive. Families can reach out to bilingual Here-to-Help program coordinators who are available by phone, email, text, or WhatsApp and voice their concerns and issues. SPEF coordinators then connect them to the community-based and school-based resources needed to address their struggle. The Here-to-Help network has also been instrumental in assisting chronically absent Stamford Public Schools students with re-engaging in classroom learning by reaching out, identifying barriers to education, and delivering solutions to families such as childcare support, assistance with technology, tutoring, communication with a child's school, translation services, and much more. To date more than 700 families have been connected through Here-to-Help to critical resources and support services, with childcare, tutoring, technology support, and food among the most requested. Despite students being back in the classroom, Here-to-Help continues to be a unique and important service for the Stamford community and SPEF encourages families to contact a Here-to-Help Program Coordinator, share their issues, concerns, and needs, and learn about the programs and resources that may be available to them. For more information, visit www.spefct.org/here2help. This press release was produced by Stamford Public Education Foundation. The views expressed here are the author's own.