By: Tina Perkins, Literacy Program Manager

In October of 2024, our exceptionally passionate Executive Director, Andrea Meyer, informed our CFSN Detroit site that we were in the final phase of consideration for a grant from The Jewish Fund. The team from that foundation would be coming to visit our site for introductions to our team and discussion over potential funding for a Caregiver Equity Learning series. The purpose of this was to implement a space where caregivers could comfortably engage in conversation facilitated to enhance their access to information and bring a deeper insight into their influence for enhancing their children’s educational success. In January of this year, our resourceful and insightful Senior Director of Learning, Heidi Miller, and community-driven Literacy Program Manager, Tina Perkins got the green light to implement the Caregiver Series at Center for Success Network’s in person Detroit site located at Durfee Innovation Society!

The targeted short-term outcomes of the Equity Learning Conversations project include:

Gaining and maintaining high attendance of participants engaging in robust conversations
Increasing the number of key presenting partners to generate invigorating conversations around health and wellness (including mental and emotional health)
Access to resources and home-school partnerships
Growing the number of new parent-parent connections

The targeted long-term outcomes of the Equity Learning Conversations project include:

Inform caregivers of education and career training opportunities for personal growth
Instruct caregivers on understanding evaluative data from standardized tests and what it means for their children
Introduce various parenting methods that address diverse family dynamics and personalities and strengths of children
Equip caregivers to create learning environments at home and model participation in their children’s learning
Offer opportunities for families and youth to increase family bonding, build positive interpersonal communication skills, and facilitate learning to solve problems together
Build rapport between families to create support systems beyond the program and within shared communities
Broaden overall conversations that promote equitable growth in education culture at home and within shared communities

The long-term outcomes for our Equity Learning Conversations will definitively support continued and overall improvements in our students’ literacy proficiency rates.

Why a Caregiver Series?

Series like this provide a supportive group in a space that is safe, confidential, and welcoming. This creates a non-judgmental atmosphere where participants, both seasoned caregivers and new caregivers feel comfortable sharing their feelings. The idea is to help caregivers of elementary-aged students feel less isolated or find resources. They're also a safe place to vent and share victories and disappointments. Also, consistent research shows that caregivers within marginalized communities of color have been historically excluded from discussions and decisions regarding matters of their immediate communities, households, and children’s education. The injuries of poverty, racial inequities, and social injustices have, instead, guided community dialogues about family and education that are often absent of resources that make a lasting difference. Center for Success Network recognizes the need to extend the opportunity for caregivers to generate these conversations as the primary influencers and co-educators of our students’ experiences.

Sessions in Action

Over the course of the 2024-25 school year after school programming, caregivers have gathered regularly with the Center for Success Network team and partner organizations to discuss various topics that support the cultivation of equitable educational opportunities and environments for caregivers, families, and CFSN students. Center for Success Network engaged experts from the metro Detroit area to deliver content, facilitate conversations, and answer questions from caregivers, ensuring that participants leave Equity Learning Conversations enlightened, educated, and inspired to act.

Our Caregiver Series is more than halfway through for the 2024-2025 school year and we are happy to report that we’ve welcomed more than 25 caregivers and over 26 students have enjoyed their time with our amazingly supportive staff, Ms. Michelle, our Community Literacy Program Coordinator, Mr. Steven, our Community Literacy Program Associate, Ms. Nyssa, our Literacy Learning Specialist, and Ms. Isabella, one of our Detroit- based Lead Literacy Instructors in the arcade, gym, and engaging in fun activities with dinner. All while their caregivers relax for a kiddo-free time, also enjoying dinner and meeting with other caregivers and professional presenters, such as:

Michigan Alliance for Families
Gilda’s Club
Care House of Oakland County
Icewood Foundation
Caleb’s Kids

Each of these presenters have showered them with infinite resources and lend advocacy support, as well. Our families have shared the the following feedback from these sessions:

“It was therapeutic and good to be around people walking similar paths.”

“Gave me information to resources that could help me navigate IEP’s”

“Yes. It was useful. It helped everyone know that they are not alone in single parent raising their children. Getting closer to the other parents.”

As a facilitator of this series, I have witnessed caregivers extend genuine words of encouragement to one another in ways that feel both relatable and deeply meaningful. There have been several defining moments where caregivers within our program have inspired one another to become more actively involved in their children’s education. One notable example includes two caregivers who chose to attend each other’s parent-teacher conferences—not to interfere or overstep, but simply to be a supportive presence so neither had to navigate the experience alone. This also allowed for a second set of ears to hear the feedback, offering the opportunity to process and reflect on the conversation with greater clarity and perspective.

Caregiver and parental involvement in a child's education leads to numerous benefits for students, schools, and families. Studies show that when parents are actively engaged in their children's schooling, students achieve higher academic outcomes, improve school engagement and motivation, and exhibit better attendance. This involvement manifests stronger parent-child relationships, builds a sense of community, and can improve communication between parents and the individuals who spend many hours a day with their children.

If you are interested in joining us as a caregiver of an elementary-aged child or as a local professional to donate your time and talents to our caregivers, please reach out to Tina Perkins at tina.perkins@center4success.org.

More Than Support: The Heart Behind Our Caregiver Equity Series