Storms & Blossoms: Navigating Parenting During the Pandemic

A year ago, we never imagined we’d still be navigating wearing masks, vaccines, and safety protocols that keep us, our loved ones, and neighbors safe while balancing our own lives. Add parenthood, working on the frontlines, and being home 24/7 to the mix, and it gets even tougher—especially for young parents who have had to traverse the foster care system as well.

That’s why ReSHAPING members Liz Aparicio, Svetlana Shpiegel, and Rhoda Smith along with Genevieve Martínez-García, Alexander Sanchez, Marissa Ventola, Amara Channell Doig, Michelle Jasczyński, conducted this PhotoVoice project from January to March 2021.

Storms & Blossoms showcases stories directly from foster care system alumni about parenting during the pandemic—their challenges, triumphs, and how they’re navigating challenging times while pregnant or parenting.

Mark Barbour

Marcha Boose-Welch

Aspasia Calivas Oosterwijk

Daryl Charrise

Melanie Cohen

Jim Egan

Donna Elliston

Nadine Finigan-Carr

Stu Flavell

Patti Flowers Coulson

Marsha Gilbert

Rae Hunter

Danielle Iacovelli

Effrosyni Kokaliari

Kulash Family Fund

Marissa Latini

Kelly Manges

Cindy Mason

Anthony Motyl

Valerie Parker

Jeraleen Peterson

Liz Quinnett

Lucia Sias

Rhoda Smith

Anthony Vela

Debbie Wengert-Rippetoe

Jamie Williams

Cheryl Wilfong

#HealthyTeen21 | Virtual Conference 2.0

When planning this year’s event and knowing it would once again be virtual, we reached out to our members and past conference attendees to hear what you wanted and what would be helpful for you right now. Thank you so much to those of you who took the time to share your thoughts.

We designed #HealthyTeen21 with this feedback in mind—we shortened the overall length, scheduled shorter sessions, and varied the content (we did our first ever podcast to help give our eyes a break). For each session, we asked ourselves–what is relevant to me today and how can I take it home? We wanted to make absolutely sure our attendees signed off with tangible, practical resources and strategies to put to work immediately.

More than a year into this pandemic life, we wanted to give ourselves time to pause and reflect. When we stop doing things the same way they’ve always been done, and we give ourselves the space and freedom to change, everyone benefits. One of the ways that we can do all of this—to “level up” as Dr. Tanya encouraged us to do—is to broaden our mindset for the intersectional world we live in. By following the advice that we heard from Andrea—to invest our time in making connections all the time—not just because we want something from someone. These connections are not just about who we know, but who knows us and what we’re doing.

Chair

Rhoda Smith, PhD, MSW

Assistant Clinical Professor, Erikson Institute

Vice Chair

Shannon Rauh, MEd,
AASECT Certified SexualityEducator

Senior Consultant, JSI Research and Training Institute

 Treasurer

Anthony Vela

Project Manager, U.S. Department of Labor

Donna Elliston, DrPH, MSPH

Senior Consultant, John Snow Inc.

Monica Faulkner, PhD, LMSW

Director, Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing; Research Associate Professor, Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin

Patti Flowers–Coulson

Public Health & Administrative Organizer, Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development, Inc. (BUILD)

Anthony D. Motyl, LICSW

Director of Grants & Sponsored Research, Springfield College

Valerie J. Parker, MA, LMFT, LCSW

Executive Director, Young Families of Indiana Network, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

Marilyn Preston

Associate Professor of Human Services, Metropolitan State University