Engagement and family bonding are the highlights of December’s 2020 success story. Transitioning to virtual programming has been a challenging, but exciting experience. Looking for creative ways to bring the holiday spirit to our families, we decided to host an apple pie edition cooking class through Zoom, and a gingerbread house contest through social media. Supplies were provided to each family, which all participants were grateful to receive. Part of the engagement process was to ensure that all families took the time to bond and be creative together. The Apple Pie Cooking class was amazing! During the event, we could see all families cooking together, as well as interacting with NDFSC staff and facilitator. Forty-eight children and thirty-four parents/guardians spent time together as families cooking and building a gingerbread house. When parents were asked for feedback at the apple pie event through zoom, one parent said, “I never done this before. I loved spending time with my daughter, and these events have allowed me to do so.” Another family that participated in the Gingerbread House Contest stated, “My husband and I did not have the resources to celebrate the holidays with our children. I am unemployed and my husband works very few hours. My 6 children participated in the gingerbread house contest. They came together and built a beautiful gingerbread house.” This family turned out to be the winner of our 1st place! They won a gift card to Shoprite, where they could buy food for the family, and a gift card to Five and Below to purchase gifts for the children. Our FSC model requires engagement as essential to the work we do. We have creatively embraced our FSC Practice Model methodologies, even in the middle of a pandemic, and have experienced remarkable outcomes. Demonstrating the ability to engage families in Paterson, and other towns of NJ has been a success! Furthermore, maintaining social connections with our community reassures every family that, even without in-person contact, New Destiny always finds a way to maintain our relationship and build strong bonds.
