Leo (short for Leonardo), his mom, and his grandmother recently came to the Play Room for the Adolescent Parents Group that our Child Life and Development program at Children of Bellevue offers.
The group provides support to teen moms as they adjust to their new role and consider their next steps to continue their education and/or return to work. Fathers, partners, and grandmothers also participate to provide support to the moms. Our Child Life staff promotes positive parent-child bonding, assesses development, answers questions, and helps moms feel connected to a caring community of professionals, other moms, and caregivers in the group.
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Our Child Life staff model and discuss raising children and how children develop with the moms while their children engage in age-appropriate activities. As babies become toddlers, Child Life supports moms learning how to deal with separation anxiety, tantrums, and independence.
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Anne Embry, one of our wonderful donors, funds a program in her beloved son Renny Weldon's memory allowing several children to attend camp each summer!
This year we have a ten-year-old boy going to McBurnie YMCA, an eleven-year-old girl going to the Chinese American Planning Council's Summer Camp in Brooklyn, and a fifteen-year-old boy going to St. Vincent de Paul's ICC Summer Camp in Putnam, NY. These kids will be swimming, playing sports, doing arts and crafts projects, and even going on field trips to the Central Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium!
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With you for our kids -- today and every day,
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Aubrie Jones and Cheryl Reich, Board Members for Children of Bellevue
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