Community Spotlight

Program Spotlight - Padres con Iniciativa

For more than 20 years, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center has been reaching out to families in need of support and education on effective parenting. Called Padres con Iniciativa, the curriculum was developed by a nurse who saw too many families struggling with self-esteem and communication problems that could lead to defiant behavior and domestic violence.

The program was originally designed to serve a largely Hispanic, migrant farmworker population. But as the Virginia Garcia client population has grown and changed, so has the Padres con Initiativa program. Families in the program enroll in a 12 part parenting class that teaches everything from childhood stages and development, to positive discipline to early literacy. Parents are taught listening and communication skills and simple ways to reduce personal and family stress. They are taught as parents to model good relationships.

Each family also has a case manager who can arrange transportation to classes, and follows up with a home visit to access their progress.

That ear is parent educator, Ileana Henriquez. Henriquez joined Virginia Garcia eight years ago and continues to improve the ‘Padres’ program by focusing on self esteem and family issues the Virginia Garcia population faces.

For more information about Padres con Iniciativa call Phone: (503) 359-5564