Mercy Corps’ Post

6 lessons I’ve learned so far as the Executive Director of The Rick Herrema Foundation While I’m very involved in planning and vision for expanding RHF nationally, I also have the chance to get in the weeds on all the details and logistics involved in our programs, events, camps, and more. Here are some things I’ve discovered: 💡 ➡️ Our military families need affordable recreational opportunities and community support. They are underserved in this area, and we’re trying to fix that.  ➡️ It’s crucial that our events are intergenerational and multicultural. Which is honestly not easy. But we work hard to offer something for every member of the military family. ➡️ What we’re doing is working. We just always need to do more. We see real delight with current programs. Barely literate kids studying the summer camp brochure as if it were a Christmas catalog.   ➡️ Kids love the zipline. ➡️ We can’t do what we do without volunteers. And we have many amazing volunteers, but management of that force is a major task.   ➡️ Free food is essential. When not provided, attendance drops significantly. We can never have too many volunteers, too many resources, too many events, or too many programs.  ___ How can you get involved? Several options are linked in the comments. 🔔 Follow me, Eric Ballester, for more daily insights.

Reflecting on my Peace Corps journey, I've been asked to share some advice for future volunteers in an upcoming manual. As someone who's moved frequently, I've learned the importance of orienting oneself to a new place. Moving to a new community can be disorienting. Take time to explore your surroundings and understand how your community can support you. Create a personal needs assessment by mapping out immediate, short-term, long-term, and non-critical needs. Identifying local resources can ensure you're physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually well. Even if you're settled in your own home, this approach can help you better understand your surroundings. Check out this worksheet and try it for yourself! #PeaceCorps #VolunteerLife #Adaptation #CommunityEngagement #PersonalGrowth

Have you heard of Partners in PROMISE 1:1 Special Education Parent Mentorship Program?  ✨What is It? - 1:1 Special Education Parent Mentorship Program where specially trained mentors in special education law and the process are available to meet with families. Together, they can identify positive steps to get families moving toward a desired or helpful solution. ✨Who is eligible for the program? - Active duty military families enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) are always our priority. This is particularly true for those who have a child in special education, given their high mobility. However, depending on space available, we can fit in veteran families as well. ✨How Much Does it Cost? Due to our generous sponsor, USAA Foundation, this is a FREE service throughout the calendar year. ✨How Does it Work? - Families must complete an intake form. Once PiP receives the intake form, we will review it and assign a mentor. PiP aims to pair families with a Parent Mentor who is more knowledgeable about specific diagnoses and (possibly) from the same service branch.  - Before the call, gather IEP documents, evaluation results, compile questions, concerns, and think about a desired outcome.  - After the consultation, the family is asked to complete a feedback form. This information is vital for PiP to evaluate data-driven needs of military families and understand how to improve the program and provide more effective training to our families. ✨Interested in participating and scheduling a consult click this link  https://lnkd.in/eQVPX2C9 OR email [email protected]. We look forward to supporting you.  Like, share, comment, save and follow for more content like this! #SpecialEducation #EFMP #IEP #SpecialEducationParentMentorshipProgram #504 #MilitaryChildren #MilitaryFamilies

Hayley Ann Boswell ⭐️This hit me. Our eldest is onto her 7th school and all four of our children have faced challenges with their education due to being Defence Kidz. Thankfully, they have also thrived. As Defence families, we do not get to pick where we live. The amount of times some snarky person on the phone has said to me, "Why didn't you have them on the wait list from birth?" We, as Defence families, don't get that luxury. How about priority of placement for Defence Kidz in ALL childcare centres. Who needs respite more than a Defence spouse doing it solo? How about State School of CHOICE? We don't get to pick where we live, so how about allowing us to pick the State school that best suits our child regardless of catchment area? Small actionable outcomes that would give Defence families a little bit of power to determine the best educational outcomes for their children. These options are already available to at risk children, so the framework is there. How about our Defence Kidz?

For the seventh story of our reframing crime narratives series, I wrote about GoodKids MadCity’s peacekeeping pilot program. There’s a prevailing narrative about youth, particularly Black youth, in Chicago: they are unfairly over-generalized, demonized, and stigmatized by society. GKMC, through its mission and peacekeeping program, is flipping that notion on its head and equipping young people with the skills to be peacemakers in their communities. https://lnkd.in/geikHsp3

Youth Cultural Intervention Program assists to build capacity, connection, identity and self-esteem to reinforce safety, stabilization and positive outcomes. Learn More: https://lnkd.in/gF5trxH9

We love our kids, but vote and enact policies like we want them to suffer and die. I like Kristof's first suggestion most for the near-term fix (below). For the longer-term fix, we need intact communities in villages (2,000-10,000 people), based on a stable, local, life-giving economy. "An early child care program modeled after the one that exists in the United States military. If our armed forces can operate a child care program with fees based on ability to pay, then the rest of the country can as well. A government-supported early childhood program rescues parents and kids alike. Roughly one child in six is living with a parent who misused drugs in the last year, and some of these children can find a lifeline in a high-quality program like Educare that also coaches parents. Other rich nations spend an average of about 29 times as much on child care per toddler as the United States." Link in comments.

It seems like every time there is a major national security crisis (or threat of one), a military draft gets mentioned. Well, we are in a major national education crisis, but I've never heard of a teacher draft. How it could work: College educated individuals are drafted for 3 months of prep and one year of teaching (in their current discipline). OR College educated individuals volunteer teach 1 day/week for 2+ years (call it "fractional teaching", not substituting). While doing that (to fill the immediate needs), we overhaul Education System (lots of recommendations already out there). Bottom Line- we should start treating the education of our youth as important as we treat national security (because it is our national security in 20 years). https://lnkd.in/es3-dnf8

According to the Pew Research Center, 30% of new military recruits come from a family where at least one parent was in the military. Supporting current military families with high-quality early childhood education builds stronger communities for today and tomorrow. Join us in this free 1-hour webinar as early childhood education experts from Teaching Strategies, Oceana Child Development Center, and IMCOM-Europe dive into how the Teaching Strategies connected ecosystem has been instrumental in the growth of their early childhood programs. Register Now: https://bit.ly/3XFI5l3