ZERO TO THRIVE
Community Outreach & Partnerships
Zero to Thrive aims to maximize cross-sector collaboration, application of research findings, and the voice of the individuals we serve to promote health across generations. Below you’ll find a sampling of our collaborations. This is not a comprehensive list.
Growing Resilience in Washtenaw County
Zero to Thrive at Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Success by 6 Great Start Collaborative at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District have formed a partnership to increase county-wide capacity of a broad group of service providers in delivering trauma-informed care to vulnerable families with young children.
This project is responsive to the clear need for evidence-based health promotion, prevention and intervention designed for at-risk mothers to serve as early intervention for their children. A recent survey, conducted by the current project partners, of more than 200 providers of early childhood services in Washtenaw County (including early childhood education, the court system, health services, and mental health) revealed a strong perceived need for training and support in delivering evidence-based services and strategies for promoting resilience among families facing adversity. Our team has been meeting regularly with a community-based cross-sector steering committee to identify needs and opportunities for promoting trauma-informed strategies and building capacity.
The main goal of this proposed project is to meet this need and increase county-wide capacity of service providers to deliver trauma-informed care to vulnerable families with young children. Target activities include (a) broad outreach and training to community-based providers (across early childhood serving systems) in trauma informed concepts and strategies for promotion of resilience as well as connecting families to resources and/or higher levels of care as needed, and (b) establishment of a cross-sector infrastructure to deliver Mom Power, an evidence-based trauma-informed parenting and self-care skills intervention for at-risk families with young children. Mom Power is based on the Strengthening Families evidence-based protective factors curriculum. Together both activities provide a “2-generation” approach to reduce negative impacts of adverse family experiences on caregivers and young children through: 1) meeting the community-identified need for capacity building among early childhood providers in trauma-informed health promotion strategies, and 2) delivering and building a sustainable cross-sector infrastructure for delivering an evidence-based preventive intervention to promote caregiver mental health and responsive parenting.
LOCAL
PARTNERSHIP
SPOTLIGHT
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
Implementing the Mom Power Program at Families Free in Northeast Tennessee
Families Free and Dr. Diana Morelen partnered together to conduct an implementation project to reduce the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on parenting and to reduce the risk of ACEs in children of mothers in recovery from addiction. The team worked to implement the Mom Power (MP) Program in a region where poverty, substance misuse, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), trauma, and mental health problems are higher than the national average.
The primary goals of the project include:
GOAL 1
Increase reach of Mom Power to serve more vulnerable families in more counties of northeast Tennessee.
GOAL 2
To build strategic partnerships with community agencies to increase the number of sensitive, trauma-informed community-based providers who better understand ACEs, child development, and strategies for mitigating the intergenerational transmission of risk from caregiver to child.
To date, the initiative has engaged over 52 mothers and 75 children. Results indicate that it is feasible to implement MP in an Appalachian region of Tennessee.
“Our vision is to continue to grow in the breadth and depth of the reach that we have working with vulnerable families to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of risk from caregiver to child and to promote resilience in the face of past adversity and addiction.”
If you have questions about referring yourself or someone you know to Mom Power in Tennessee, please contact Angie Martin. If you have questions about the broader implementation efforts of Mom Power in Tennessee, please contact Diana Morelen:
Community Partners
Zero to Thrive works with many community partners across various disciplines to have a greater impact. Some of the key community partners that Z2T works with include:
Black Mothers’ Breastfeeding Association
BMBFA aims to build foundational networks of support, and strengthen systems to overcome historical, societal and social barriers to breastfeeding success.
Brilliant Detroit
Brilliant Detroit is dedicated to building kid success families and neighborhoods where families with children 0-8 have what they need to be school ready, healthy, and stable.
Development Centers
DC will be the preeminent organization committed to excellence and the recognized leader in Human Services. We will provide a continuum of diversified services based upon community need, resulting in outstanding and ever improving outcomes.
Fraternity of Fathers Group in Traverse City
The FoF group up in Traverse City is run in a collaboration with the Great Starts Collaborative and Generations Ahead. There are currently 6 dads enrolled in the group.
Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan
Advocating for member tribes in the development of programs and policies which will improve the economy, education, and quality of life for Michigan’s Native Americans.
Starfish Family Services
Starfish Family Services and the University of Michigan, are partnering to bring the Fraternity of Fathers program to families in and around Inkster, Michigan.
The Mom Power Program has been implemented across Michigan and in various states. For a more detailed look at the collaborative efforts bringing Mom Power to communities throughout the U.S., please click the button below: