In an ongoing effort to support families and to promote self-care among parents, KYCC’s Clinical Services hosted their Summer Self-Care event on June 25, 2019. KYCC Prevention and Aftercare Services (PnA) staff provided free food, childcare and relaxing activities for the entire family to enjoy. Eleven families attended this open-to-all event and were encouraged to make their physical and mental health a priority. Parents learned self-care strategies from a chiropractor who gave a presentation and led the parents through a stretching exercise.

“I appreciate being invited to events like this. It’s nice to meet other parents in the area and I have the opportunity to learn new ways to take care of myself and my family,” a participant said.

Parents who struggle to make self-care a priority are more susceptible to depression, emotional exhaustion and burnout. Parental self-care events allow parents in our community to connect with each other and learn different forms of self-care.

To strengthen families, Prevention and Aftercare Services (PnA) works to support parents and decrease the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. The five protective factors that PnA promotes include: parental resilience, knowledge of parenting and child development, social and emotional competence of children, social connections and concrete support in times of need. PnA aims to increase these protective factors among families through a variety of services, such as youth programming, case management, parent support groups, self-care events and family nights.

This event was funded by the Prevention and Aftercare Services (PnA).