and college visits, Café para Mamas & reducing the effects of trauma

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February 2024
Identity's Future Home and Community Hub
GREAT news!! Identity recently purchased a building in Olde Town Gaithersburg where we will create a new headquarters and community hub for a wide range of social emotional, academic and workforce development programs and wraparound services plus educational, cultural and recreational activities. We look forward to welcoming everyone into our new home when renovations are complete. Stay tuned for that!

Weekly Café para Mamas

For more than five years, the Wheaton High School Wellness Center has hosted parents at Café para Mamas. In January, parents spoke openly about their concerns and questions related to increased substance use to inform a University of Maryland/Identity community needs assessment. The participating moms are hungry for more information, including information on child development, how to talk with their children to prevent substance use, and where to turn when they need more help.

Day of Learning to Reduce the Effects of Trauma

Identity clients, both youth and parents, have experienced disproportionate Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), often compounded by immigration-related trauma, which can increase the likelihood of health problems in adulthood. In keeping with our commitment to being a model trauma-informed organization, staff from across Identity came together in late January for a full day of learning ways to reduce the effects of trauma on clients and of secondary trauma on staff to ensure we serve our client community with excellence. We (re)visited the Positive Youth Development Model and Stages of Change and best practices related to setting boundaries and reinforcing Positive Childhood Experiences. Plus, we practiced self-care through movement (Zumba), art therapy and journaling.

Black & Brown Parents Speak Out

During the Montgomery County Board of Education budget hearings in January, parents from the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Excellence and Equity urged school leaders to be laser focused on the basics of reading and math. They stressed the need for an early warning system to help parents understand when their children are performing below grade level and how to access help to correct reading deficiencies.

Parent Ricky Ribiero testified that, “criteria for an A in any subject in elementary seems fluffy and is highly subjective to things that aren’t visible to parents.” He saw his 5^th grade daughter obviously struggling with math homework, but her report card showed A’s and B’s. In reality, she had been falling behind for a year. It wasn’t until she started failing quizzes and tests that he realized the severity of the problem and urgent need for tutoring.

Here’s what BBC co-founders Diego Uriburu and Byron Johns had to say about solutions for fixing the problem in this MoCo360 op-ed. ([link removed])

Laptops Open Doors

Computers are essential for applying for jobs, taking classes, and learning new skills that lead to livable wages. That’s why Identity Case Managers work hard to find free or affordable computers for Identity youth and families. Case Managers recently took a group of new immigrant parents to the Gaithersburg Library to pick up a free computer through Montgomery Connect. KindWorks also levels the digital playing field by equipping residents in need with refurbished computers.

Imagining a College Future

A group of teens in our Bridge to Wellness program recently toured Bowie State University. Two student guides helped our youth see themselves in the classrooms, dorms and the beautiful recreation spaces. At the end of the visit, many of them said the experience was really inspiring, motivating them too continue their education after high school. The students attend Bethesda-Chevy Chase high school, one of eight schools where Identity partners to provide mentoring and Positive Youth Development programs.
Thanks to an anonymous donor, these soccer players each got their own soccer balls to practice with at home before the spring outdoor soccer season starts in March. They belong to Identity’s girls’ team organized through the Gaithersburg High School Wellness Center.

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