Family Institute

Background
Since its formation in 1999, the Family Institute has worked to ensure family strength and well being. By supporting the various programs within CentroNía that serve children and youth, the Family Institute completes the circle of support for the family as a whole. The Institute’s mission is to support families within the community in their efforts to achieve their highest potential in, education, financial stability, physical and mental health, cultural awareness, leadership and quality of life. The Family Institute’s programs are implemented with the goal of furthering CentroNía’s four core values of social justice, economic advancement, lifelong learning, and family and child well-being. The Family Institute seeks to aid parents in providing a home environment that fosters each child’s ability to reach her/his full potential.

What We Offer
The Family Institute strives to foster leadership in our families through capacity-building activities. We also provide and coordinate the delivery of supportive social services to build on family’s strengths.

Case Management and Support - Through an initial intake interview, the Family Institute performs an assessment of each familiy’s current situation in order to provide information, referrals, and skill building workshops. Follow-up meetings are conducted with other program’s staff in order to coordinate support across the organization. The Family Institute serves as many as 80 families a month.

Direct Services and Referrals - The Family Institute promotes family and child well-being by serving as a vital link between underserved families and the community institutions that exist to support them. Most information and some services are provided directly (workforce development, free tax preparation services, etc.) , while referrals are made to appropriate organizations in other areas, such us: emergency food, housing (transitional, rental or purchase), energy bill assistance, legal services, Temporary Aid For Needy Families, drug and alcohol counseling, employment, and educational resources (Literacy, English As A Second Language (ESL), GED, employment training, college and professional development).

Workshops -Workshops on financial literacy, educational opportunities, home buying, parental involvement, child development and many others are scheduled regularly to help families reach their goals and meet their needs.

Parent Groups - The Family Institute helps organize parents, direct them to resources, and helps coordinate cultural and social events. Parents Associations, Women’s support groups, Fatherhood groups and other groups related to areas such education, health, etc are supported and encouraged to form as means to create support networks and opportunities in which learning, team building, land advocacy opportunities amongst parents occur

SPARK DC (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) - SPARK offers school readiness services, such as health screenings and developmental assessments to families with preschool-age children. SPARK Staff work to ensure that children are ready for schools, parents are ready to participate in each child’s education and the schools are ready to welcome and educate children.

For more information, please contact any of the Family Institute staff at 202-332-4200 or by email at familyinstitute@centronia.org

Enrique Torrico, Family Institute Director ext. 119
Wesley Walsman, Outreach Specialist ext.117
Pamela German, Outreach Specialist ext. 200
Yamileth Centeno – SPARK Coordinator ext.141
Doris Obregon – Family Support Specialist ext. 154