Family Ways
Family Ways is a program supporting pregnant persons, parenting families and children up to age five. All services are culturally relevant, participant-centered, and strengths-based. Our Peer Community Specialists represent the communities we currently serve.
Participants we currently serve
- Families who are living in King County
- Families who identify as being any of the following cultural groups: U.S born Black/African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
- Pregnant and parenting families with children up to 5 years old
What we do
Peer support is the center of our program. Each participant will be connected with someone on our team of specialists to best meet their needs. Some of the ways we provide support include:
- Helping clients connect to resources, such as food, basic needs, housing, behavioral health support and more. These connections come through collaboration with Community-based Organizations (CBO) and other community leaders
- Helping clients connect to pregnancy and childbirth; breast/chest feeding; parenting; and nutrition resources
- Providing connections to post pregnancy support and behavioral health support
- Providing essential items for children and families
Peers will collaborate with and assist participants in connecting to the program social worker, nutritionist and/or nurse as needed. They may assist with the following:
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Social work
- Providing concrete needs like diapers and baby items
- Offering referrals to community resources such as family support groups and behavioral health resources
- Assisting with navigating systems like health care and early intervention services
- Providing information about parenting and child development
- Offering general support about the joys and challenges of pregnancy and parenting
- Providing concrete needs like diapers and baby items
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Nutrition
- Providing individual and group nutrition counseling
- Facilitating nutrition classes in community related to healthy eating, pregnancy, and breast/chest feeding.
- Connecting participants to community food resources, nutrition-related health services, and state/federal food assistance programs
- Providing individual and group nutrition counseling
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Nursing
- Navigating healthcare systems
- Advocating with and for participants within the medical system
- Pregnancy, postpartum, child development, family planning, lactation and parenting education
- Assist in better understanding a medical condition/symptoms and managing your medications
- Navigating healthcare systems