What a great beginning to the New Year! The excitement of participating in the 5th annual Parenting Symposium, the Partners In Parenting series and the 8th annual Month of the Young Child celebration was a great way to get acquainted with The Family Center’s programs and meet participants.
In my service as an advisory board member for The Family Center over the past eight years, I was able to participate in the formation of this wonderful community organization. I watched it grow under the lead-ership of Diane Strickler and am pleased to further its development. I thank Diane for her endless support with the transition process. In her new role as founder, Diane will remain as an active volunteer, helping to preserve the foundation that has been laid and continuing to serve as an ambassador for an expanding circle of supporters.
Over the past 3 months, it has been my pleasure to meet over 50 active members consisting of board members, advisory council members, community volunteers and professionals. The collaborative effort displayed by this group of dedicated individuals is evidenced in the teamwork of planning educational programs and events. The Family Center is a unique organization with an excellent reputation for quality programs and the ability to respond to community needs.
The Family Center also recognizes Beth Quinn for her seven years of excellence as our newsletter editor. This is Beth’s last newsletter edition. She has decided it is time to step down and pursue other interests. Thank you Beth for sharing your talents over the years! We welcome John Minnis as our new newsletter editor.
I look forward to meeting many more of you in the months ahead. The Family Center prides itself on providing educational enrichment and resources to parents, caregivers, educators and professionals. Our accessible, community based programs help to build healthy, resilient, successful kids…in turn helping to build stronger families and a stronger community!
As with any nonprofit organization facing today’s challenges, we ask for your continued suggestions and support so that The Family Center may continue to expand its mission with enhanced community programs. Please feel free to contact me directly with your suggestions, I look forward to hearing from you!
Deborah A. Liedel
Debbie.Liedel@familycenterweb.org or 313.432.3582
From The Director
Help & Resources
The Family Center was founded on the premise that all families benefit from knowledge, connections, and support. Being a center for parents and other caring members of our community, we seek to provide knowledge and resources on many topics involved in raising healthy children. You can use the categories below to assist your search for information. The following list of resources compiled by The Family Center is intended to assist parents and professionals in finding needed information but the sites do not necessarily represent the views of The Family Center.
About Us
The goal of The Family Center of Grosse Pointe & Harper Woods is healthy, competent and responsible young people. We seek to achieve that goal by working with parents and all those who interface with our youth, giving them the skills needed to raise our children to be contributing community members.
We know that parenting is learned, it takes time and practice and that the job is 24/7. We know that while children are the same today, childhood is not. We know that societal influences, not just parental influences impact our children. We know there are many challenges. We also know that an understanding of normal growth and development, of youth trends, of parenting strategies can help parents make wise decisions. New scientific findings, be it brain or social development research can be utilized to improve the potential for youth. Our community is rich in resources to assist parents but they can be difficult to find.
The Family Center believes that by educating, connecting and supporting our families, we can share with caregivers the tools to succeed in this vital task of raising healthy children and building strong families.
Since our founding in 2000, The Family Center has presented programs on topics ranging from sibling rivalry to boys' learning needs, from misbehavior to family communication skills, from video games to step-parenting. We have touched thousands of parents and teachers through formal lectures and panel presentations as well as provided opportunities for parents to dialogue with one another and professionals. Play Central gives caregivers and their preschool aged children a place to visit with other families during the cold winter months. Resource guides have been written and videos produced. We have a weekly column in the Grosse Pointe News as well as a quarterly newsletter, Family Central. As our new website will attest, we continue to explore new ways of sharing information with our families.
Our young 501(c)3 nonprofit organization depends on a large number of volunteers with skills ranging from speaking and writing to marketing and development. If you would like to share your time and talent with us, or make a donation to support our programs, or receive our newsletter please contact The Family Center.
Association of Professionals
The Family Center Association of Professionals lists practitioners, organizations and businesses that support our enrichment programs by advertising in this directory. We hope that this valuable community directory will be a great resource and an excellent means of connecting with a community of caring professionals.
Professionals: to become a member of our directory, please email us at info@familycenterweb.org for an informational package.
View our complete Association of Professionals at our web site.