Sept. 19, 2003Sept. 19, 2003
Programs
Grandparenting
resources distributed to 200 at St. Louis
educational fair
Two free resources on grandparenting and kinship care issues -- an updated "Grandparents Acting As Parents Resource and Information Guide" and a new monthly newsletter called Kincare Connections -- were distributed to 200 participants at the second Grandparents Acting As Parents Fair, Sept. 6, at University of Missouri-St. Louis.
The resources were produced by the Gateway Grandparents Network, a collaboration of 15 agencies and organizations coordinated by University Outreach and Extension in the St. Louis area. Elizabeth Reinsch, EC human development specialist, heads the collaboration and coordinated the fair.
The guide includes information about services available in St. Louis City and County, as well as St. Charles, Franklin and Jefferson counties.
A $10,000 statewide grant from the Brookdale Foundation will improve University Outreach and Extension's capacity to address the educational needs of grandparents and other relatives serving as parents. The two-year grant from the Brookdale Foundation will support professional development for UO/E regional faculty and the development of local support groups for grandparents and other relatives.
As part of the grant, UO/E also will spearhead efforts to establish a statewide coalition of state agencies and other organization to facilitate collaboration.
In September, 10 UO/E faculty members participated in a Professional Development Experience on "Second Time Around," a grandparenting curriculum from Cornell University, and attended the Grandparents Acting As Parents Fair, Sept. 6, in St. Louis. Regional Human Development Specialists Jinny Hopp, SW, and Betty Reinsch, EC, provided training to regional human development specialists Kim Allen and Jim Wirth, SW; Godwin Ashiabi, SC; Mary Engram, Phyllis Flanigan and Mary Gosche, SE; Diane Kerns and Don Miller, NW; Leanne Spengler, NE; and Teresa Mareschal, EC.
"The participants are working in their local areas to form support groups for grandparents and relatives serving as parents," says HES Program Leader Jo Britt-Rankin, who is the principal investigator for the grant. In addition, Linda Breytspraak and Lois Fitzpatrick of UMKC Center on Aging Studies also are collaborating in the project.
Specialists will work to establish at least five support groups in the coming year.
The New York City-based foundation invited UO/E to apply for a statewide Relatives as Parents Program grant based on specialists' work on the subject. RAPP, began in 1991, focuses on meeting the needs of grandparents and other relatives who are serving as surrogate parents. The foundation's local initiatives project began in 1996.
Polk County outreach and extension received one of four national grants from the JCPenney Afterschool Fund. Kim Allen, SW human development specialist, and Jonathan Bishop, Polk County VISTA volunteer, applied for the $10,000 grant, which will support the development of after-school programs in partnership with other agencies.
Polk and Bishop are working with the YMCA, a local group called HELP and the Fair Play School District. The grant monies will be used to purchase supplies, provide scholarships and help with staffing.
A media event is scheduled for Oct. 9, National Lights on After School Day, to publicize the initiative.
Cape Girardeau University Outreach and Extension was noted as a sponsoring organization for grandparenting education in "Parents Again: Grandparents often find themselves raising children" published in the Sept. 12 issue of The Missouri Conference Review, a publication of the United Methodist Church. Mary Gosche, SE human development specialist, worked with the coalition, which included the Missouri Division of Aging, Southeast Missouri State University gerontology department, local hospitals, Southeast Missouri Area Agency on Aging, Missouri Division of Family Services, county health department and ministerial alliances.
Sherry Nelson, NE human environmental sciences specialist, will participate in a panel discussion, "Latinos in Missouri: Theoretical and Practical Perspectives," from 12-1:30 p.m., Sept. 23, in Columbia. Nelson will discuss "Disaster Preparedness Outreach for Hispanic Populations in Missouri." The event will be in N112 Memorial Union.
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Eileen Yager,
yagere@umsystem.edu |
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