Parenting 101: CVHF event helps young families thrive

Burke County Animal Services Director Kaitlin Settlemyre was doing her best to offer tips about how to be a better pet parent, and the adults in attendance were paying attention.

The kids, however, were another story.

The excited chatter of little ones filled the Foothills Higher Education Center’s conference space last Thursday for the Catawba Valley Healthy Families (CVHF) fall parent event.

It was the third of four such workshops CVHF offers each year, one each quarter. The events focus on a different parenting topic each time, and this one was geared toward helping folks be better caretakers for their four-legged family members.

In addition to Animal Services, the Burke Animal Services Foundation, and Children’s Hope Alliance helped sponsor the evening, which included a healthy dinner for the young families in attendance.

Morganton Public Library staff were on hand to help the kids create pet-themed holiday ornaments and paw-print necklaces. Youngsters could adopt their own stuffed animal pets. Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer McGrady from Animal Hospital of East Burke conducted “health exams” on a large stuffed dog so kids could see how it’s done.

The highlight was a roomful of real, live, playful puppies with whom the children got to interact. Families with pets got to take home a free bag of food thanks to Food Lion.

Family Resource Specialist Ellen Settlemyer said incorporating parent education into the mix with all that fun is vital to the program.

“There’s always a theme, and there’s always got to be an educational component,” Settlemyer said. “That’s why we’re having the presentation about how to be a good pet owner.”

Sarah Haymore, CVHF Director, said the gatherings help in other ways as well.

“These events are wonderful because we can get all our families together and they can connect with other families that have kids the same age,” Haymore said. “That increases their social support.

“Some of them are a little bit isolated or may be going through some things and may not have anybody else in their social network that is in the same place, so it’s helpful for that.”

Providing help in a number of ways is what CVHF does best.

Catawba Valley Healthy Families is a free, federally funded program that provides assistance to young families. The program is available for Burke County families expecting a baby or who have an infant less than 3 months old.

Families who enroll in the program are assisted by a Family Support Specialist (FSS), who is trained to help and to advise them on all aspects of parenting and family life, from effective discipline techniques to budgeting and finance to strengthening relationships with spouses and partners.

In addition, specialists help families locate resources. Home visits are an integral part of the service, and specialists work with the entire family, including older siblings.

Families can remain with the CVHF until the child turns 5, but many families complete the program in three years.

Program participant Amy Jenkins said at first, she was skeptical because she had never heard of a service like this one, but once her family tried it, they were sold.

“Having Lisa (FSS) come to our house every week has been amazing,” Jenkins said. “There was a week when we were gone on vacation and we weren’t going to see her, and it was like my week was just off, because having her come has been such a support that I didn’t realize we needed.”

Jenkins has three older children, but her 7-month-old daughter is the first child she and her wife have had together. They have been with the program since the baby was born and have seen their specialist every week. She suffers from postpartum depression and said CVHF has been a lifesaver.

“It’s been incredibly helpful,” Jenkins said. “I have a resource I’ve never had before. It’s a community, almost like a family.”

And the CVHF family will soon be growing. Settlemyer said the program hopes to expand into Caldwell and McDowell counties in October in order to serve more overburdened families.

“We get to work with our families for three to five years, making sure they’re connected with all the resources that are out there to support them, and make sure they have all the updated information on child development and any other topics that might be relevant,” Haymore said.

“This is a really neat collaboration, and I think that’s something Burke County does really well — coming together to support the community.”

NOTE: For more information or to make a referral, call Catawba Valley Healthy Families at 828-460-5698.