The Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative (OPEC) has awarded a $110,000 grant to Washington County Health and Human Services’ Children, Youth and Families program to support its parenting education hub known as Parenting Together Washington County. Parenting Together is a partnership between Washington County and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette.
The Parenting Together hub is now in its third year of operation, largely due to OPEC providing $340,000 in funding over the past four years. OPEC is a collaboration between Oregon State University and four of Oregon’s largest foundations — Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust and the Collins Foundation.
OPEC funding is enhanced with matching investments from Early Learning Washington County and Washington County Children, Youth and Families. These combined 2015-2018 investments will enable almost 1,000 parents and their children to benefit from 34 evidence-based parenting education series as well as 34 workshops and family-friendly activities. Parenting Together Washington County collaborates with school districts and a broad base of community-based organizations and dedicated individuals to plan, implement and market these opportunities to parents communitywide.
“It is crucial to engage families within the context of their communities by offering a broad range of culturally and linguistically appropriate parenting education and engagement options that are in direct response to family strengths, needs and preferences,” says Leslie Moguil, senior program coordinator. “Our parenting education series, workshops and family-friendly activities support equity in embracing the rich diversity of cultures and languages that families bring to their parenting practices.”
Parenting Together partners with culturally specific organizations and school districts to offer parent learning opportunities in English, Spanish, Somali, Arabic, Korean and Nepalese.
Parenting Together Washington County builds and sustains lifelong learning connections between children, families and communities to enable all to thrive. For more information, contact Leslie Moguil at 503-846-4556.