Together with families and community we nurture children, build on family strengths, and find alternatives to violence.

University of Minnesota Student Interns

Changhao (Li)

Bobcats (4-5 year olds)

Tseyone

Bears (3-4 year olds)

Olivia

Bunnies (toddlers)

Introducing three student interns from the U of M who are studying trauma-informed early childhood education. One intern has been assigned to each of our three classrooms and is onsite twice a week working alongside teachers and volunteers.

"This semester, I am studying about trauma and stress, and trauma-informed care. At SSFNC, I am learning about the practice of trauma-informed care with pre-school aged children. The very first and most impressive thing I have enjoyed is working with professional and highly-motivated teachers. I've really leaned a lot about how to interact with children by observing teacher's everyday work. I also have enjoyed spending time with the lovely children. The interactions with them really make me develop new, involved and empathetic insights about young aged children. When I see or read about the "deviant" behaviors of children again, I would always think about the potential reasons behind behaviors and how we can help them to improve instead of simply criticizing." -Li

First Aid Kits for SSFNC Families

Minneapolis South Rotary Club recently donated 32 first aid kits, meeting a need shared by families in our program. The first aid kits were delivered by SSFNC board member and Rotary Club member, Fred Herron (far left) and Rotary Club President, Dave Duca (far right). Jennifer Bridges (middle left), SSFNC Program Director and Diane Cullumber (middle right), SSFNC Development Director, received the donation. 

New Evidence Based Home Visiting Curriculum

SSFNC has adopted Parents as Teachers (PAT) as a second home visiting curriculum for use with families parenting children ages 3-6 years. We will retain our current model, Family Spirit, “evidence based” for children prenatal to three. Training in the PAT model for our two Home Visitors and Program Director is underway.

Accessibility to Healthy Food

SSFNC continues to address food insecurity in our community with bi-weekly delivery of food to families. We have built exciting in-roads into public funding with Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis for the purchase and acquisition of culturally appropriate foods. Our partnership with The Food Group continues as a portal for high nutrient/relatively affordable food and infrastructure support for this initiative.

Reflective Practice

For many years, home visitors at SSFNC have engaged in ongoing  clinical supervision and reflective practice. Recently, through the Department of Human Services (DHS), teachers at Southside are receiving free reflective practice. This practice provides open ended support, both professional and personal, to direct service staff. It cares for the specific needs of individual staff members while contributing to continuous program improvement.

Thank you to our practitioner partners who provide this valuable resource.

Barbara Bettelyoun Ph.D

Supporting Home Visitors and is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, President of Buffalo Star People, and a professional consultant in the field of psychology for over 18 years

Lauren Moberg, LMFT, IMH-E

Supporting Teachers and is the Infant and early childhood director at Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health

Megan Eastman, MSW, LICSW

Supporting teachers and works with Collective Healing Therapy & consulting, LLC

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