U of L Resilient Families Project - Thursday 6-7

What is the Resilient Families Project? The organization I served with this semester, the Resilient Families Project (RFP), is a weekly educational program meant to develop resiliency and wellness skills among individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Since 2011, University of Louisville faculty, students, and volunteers have served the residents at Wayside Christian Mission's Hotel Louisville and Emergency Homeless Shelter. The program seeks to promote healthy attachment relationships between caregivers and children, interactive reading between caregivers and children, a sense of belonging and community engagement, and school readiness for children and families. RFP accomplishes these objectives with a three-part program every Thursday evening during UofL's fall, spring, and summer semesters. The first program hour, called Resilient Families Program, is a structured learning forum for both the parents and the children that is meant to strengthen interactive reading skills and shared learning activities. Carefully selected children's books are read aloud to motivate literacy and reading between caregivers and children, which will, in turn, assist in creating healthy and loving attachment relationships. The activities during this hour also create a sense of belonging and community involvement, in that attendees are encouraged to participate in community events and with community organizations. The second part of the program, called Resilient Child/Adolescent Program, is devoted to strengthening school readiness and social and emotional skills among the children and adolescents that attend the program. This is done with activities such as arts and crafts, homework and tutoring, interactive reading, and music and dance. The third part of the program, the Resilient Adults Program, is an empirically-supported program that provides education in resilience and compassion, communication skills, and child Mosby 2 management skills. These skills are taught using a variety of methods, such as arts and crafts, games, and personal reflection. It also involves the discussion of such topics as the importance of self-care, positive discipline, developing strong and supportive social networks, and effective communication.