Families of Color Seattle(FOCS), an organization dedicated to providing peer-led, facilitated parent support groups to help new parents gain learning skills and gather a parenting community around them, is expecting its own “new arrival” on December 1.
That’s the day of the first meeting of the organization’s new Indigenous Parents Group. The free new group will meet on Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. in a session that runs through February 16. It will be offered online via Zoom with optional in-person gatherings in the greater Seattle area.
The new group is a collaboration between FOCS and Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services’ Pilimakua Family Connections Program. Hummingbird is the first and only Indigenous service agency in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties and exclusively provides services to support the physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and cultural health of Indigenous babies and families from zero to age three. Its services are free to expectant and new American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific families.
The new FOCS parent group is open to American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific parents of any gender with children ages 0 to 5. In Weekly gatherings, facilitators will help new parents gain or enhance parenting skills and provide a space to discuss identity and race.
Each session will run for two hours, and groups will run for eight to ten weeks.
Since 2013, FOCS has provided parent groups that “center on joy and liberation.” The organization aims to empower parents of color to feel more secure, acknowledged, and self-assured. Groups are facilitated by other parents, and the curriculum focuses on discussions around racism and identity and ensuring parents have the tools to best support raising strong and compassionate children of color.
To learn more or register for any FOCS parent group, go to FOCseattle.org.
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Families of Color Seattle offers a variety of parenting support
