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FOR THE PAPER
UNC Health Blue Ridge donates AEDs to NCSSM-Morganton
UNC Health Blue Ridge partnered with the North Carolina School
for Science and Mathematics-Morganton and donated essential
equipment for the school’s Automated External Defibrillators
(AEDs). These life-saving devices are crucial in emergency
situations, and UNC Health Blue Ridge is committed to ensuring
they’re always ready to go when needed. “At UNC Health Blue Ridge,
our mission extends beyond hospital walls,” said Gary Paxson,
president and CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge. “We’re dedicated to the
health and safety of our entire community.” Shown here, from left,
are Kevin Baxter, vice chancellor & chief campus officer for NCSSM;
Justin Gildner, director of campus safety for NCSSM; Gary Paxson,
president and CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge, and Jon Mercer, chief
operating officer of UNC Health Blue Ridge.
Page A12 | e-Edition | The Paper
FOR THE PAPER
UNC Health Blue Ridge donates AEDs to NCSSM-Morganton
UNC Health Blue Ridge partnered with the North Carolina School
for Science and Mathematics-Morganton and donated essential
equipment for the school’s Automated External Defibrillators
(AEDs). These life-saving devices are crucial in emergency
situations, and UNC Health Blue Ridge is committed to ensuring
they’re always ready to go when needed. “At UNC Health Blue Ridge,
our mission extends beyond hospital walls,” said Gary Paxson,
president and CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge. “We’re dedicated to the
health and safety of our entire community.” Shown here, from left,
are Kevin Baxter, vice chancellor & chief campus officer for NCSSM;
Justin Gildner, director of campus safety for NCSSM; Gary Paxson,
president and CEO of UNC Health Blue Ridge, and Jon Mercer, chief
operating officer of UNC Health Blue Ridge.
Burke_county
Program helps secure brighter FUTuRES for Burke families
By MARTY QUEEN
Senior Reporter
Participants in the Burke County Public Schools FUTuRES
Program’s Grandparents/Kinship Caregivers Circle of Parents Support
Group are shown at Oak Hill Elementary prior to a trip to see the
Christmas display at J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center last
December.
FOR THE PAPER
Burke County Public Schools FUTuRES Program Coordinator Lisa Schell can’t help but flash a warm smile as she relates anecdotes about the families the program has impacted over her 15 years on the job.
Schell tells about a grandmother who started attending the program’s Circle of Parenting Group for kinship caregivers — nonbiological parents raising children — because it meant a night off from cooking dinner and a few moments’ respite from parenting.
Ten years later, the grandmother was still attending meetings.
“Our groups become family to one another,” Schell said.
That’s exactly what FUTuRES — Families United to Resources and Education through the Schools — wants. The program began in Burke County 25 years ago. Its goal is to help families in need access the services available to them while supporting one another in peer groups.
February has been proclaimed Family Support Awareness Month in North Carolina, and both Schell and Family Support Specialist Ellen Settlemyer want to spread the word about FUTuRES.
The program is funded through grants from the Department of Health and Human Services and is administered through the schools. FUTuRES is a member of the national Family Resource Network.
In addition to the Circle of Parenting group, FUTuRES offers the Triple P group — Positive Parenting Program — with the goal of emphasizing the importance of raising children in a warm and trusting household.
In addition, FUTuRES offers the Mamas Latinas Support Group, which assists Spanish-speaking moms.
The groups are available for all Burke County families in school or at home with children between the ages of 3 and 12, unless the family has an open DSS case.
FUTuRES typically assists 40-50 adults and 50-65 children during the school year. The program received additional funding from the American Recovery Act (ARPA) last year, which has enabled it to aid 35 additional families.
Settlemyer said FUTuRES fills a niche other similar organizations can’t.
“There were programs that were only serving ages 0-3,” Settlemyer said. “We didn’t have programs for school-age children. We saw the need to extend that to other families.”
Schell said the Family Resource Network promotes five goals for family support organizations, and FUTuRES strives to meet those goals.
“One of the things that they promote is providing five protective factors to all families,” Schell said. “So that’s part of our vision. Those protective factors are building parent resilience; social and emotional competence skills in children; parent knowledge of child development; concrete support in times of need; and social connections. So, with the programs that we’re using, we’re hitting all five of those protective factors for families.”
The Circle of Parents group meets every Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at Oak Hill Elementary in Morganton. Food and childcare are provided. Mamas Latinas meets Fridays from 8-9:30 a.m. at Hillcrest Elementary. Spanish translators and breakfast are provided.
More information about FUTuRES can be found on the group’s website (www.burke.k12.nc.us/departments/student-and-family-services/futures).
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