San Jose Grail Family Services

Community-based programming gfs will operate a place-based family resource center that will provide a variety of services to support families' basic needs, safety, and healthy child development of children prenatal through fine years old. This place-based center is a versatile, community-rooted hub committed to supporting families of all backgrounds, with a special focus on underserved families in the mayfair community. Through its comprehensive information and referral system, the frc connects families to essential resources such as affordable housing, food assistance, healthcare, and more. Beyond referrals, the center provides hands-on support through free diaper and food distributions, helping families meet their immediate needs. To further support families, the center provides year-round educational workshops for parents, emphasizing effective parenting techniques and highlighting the crucial developmental stages from prenatal care through the first five years of a child's life.professional development program for teachers-to address the disconnect between parents and teachers around family engagement, gfs developed the family engagement professional development program. The program targets tk-3rd grade teachers and includes training on family engagement framework and best practices as well as an introduction to gfs' proprietary building blocks of parenting app. To date, gfs has trained more than 700 teachers, childcare providers and service providers.the building blocks of parenting (bbp) app-the bbp app provides parents with anytime/anywhere access to strategies and activities they can use to help their children succeed in school and in life. The app also includes unique "mindset builders" that help parents intentionally engage by getting into the right frame of mind before beginning an activity. During the pandemic, gfs used the app to provide families with information and resources related to the virus as well as educational resources to support their children's learning at home.

School-based programmingyes we can...read! Plus-ywcr+ trains a cadre of reading mentors (college students, community members, and corporate volunteers) and matches them with kindergarten and 1st grade students at two partnering elementary schools in the alum rock union school district. Weekly mentoring sessions focus on improving their literacy and early math skills and inspiring them to develop a love of learning. These sessions are complemented by parent engagement workshops and family literacy nights. The workshops teach parents how to support their children's learning with home-based literacy and early math activities and how to improve their communication with teachers, while connecting them to a parent support network. Family literacy nights, conducted in partnership with the san jose public library, provide an opportunity for parents and children to practice reading together and get access to library resources.