Parenting 101

New baby? Congrats and welcome to the Fellowship of Unanswered Parenting Questions, a perplexing time of worry and concern that won’t end even after Junior is deposited at the age of 18 in a snazzy out-of-town dorm room. This fall, a center in Sparks opened that offers resources, classes and community for expectant parents and those with 1-year-olds through preschoolers.

The PEACE Project—an acronym for Parent Education And Child Enrichment—is the brainchild of Cynthia Freeman, a mother of four who’s finishing her Ph.D. work in developmental psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. The Project, with centers in Sparks, Lovelock, Fallon and Winnemucca, also runs Family to Family Connection’s New Baby Centers for infants. Funding for Family to Family was cut in the past two legislative sessions, from $360,000 to $176,000 in 1999 to $70,000 in 2001. “But instead of taking it and rolling over and dying, Cynthia has [written grants and obtained funding] to expand the program,” says Carlyn Grocholski, district coordinator. I talked to Freeman at the PEACE Project office, 1351 Baring Blvd., Sparks, across from Reed High School. For more info, call 355-6880.

How did all this get started?

The pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fallon said he wanted to do something for families. We started Family to Family in Fallon in June, 1998.

But Family to Family is just for newborns, right?

Yes, and we found that more issues come up for families after 12 months, when the baby is moving around, eating and talking back. There were family resource centers around, but most were intervention based—they get you after the fact—as opposed to coming in to learn how to parent. We are a prevention-based program. After talking to families, I began to write grants to expand to preschoolers through age 5. We applied for grants from the Task Force For the Fund for a Healthy Nevada—that’s the tobacco settlement funds—and the Children’s Trust Fund.

What does this center offer?

Personal one-on-one visits, a Great Expectations prenatal class, a program for families with children age one to five, videos, strollers and playpens that you can check out, the Little Blessings clothing exchange and a food pantry with baby food and formula. It’s not designed to give you a whole month’s supply of food, just to help out until your next paycheck. There’s no adult food, and we rely solely on donations.

How have you helped parents?

Of the babies who enrolled in 1998, who are five now, families say the child’s development was really enhanced. … One teen mom, who was recommended by her high school, came in one day, plunked her baby on the floor and said, "OK, teach me something." By the third week, she was excited about things she’d learned, saying, "My baby did this thing you talked about" and "I noticed this …" She turned out to be one of our active moms. She went from a parent who didn’t want to be a parent to one for whom parenting was the most important thing in her life. That’s one that always brings tears to my eyes.