Family Care Connection (FCC) Centers of Children’s Hospital provide vital services to children and families through a network of community-based centers. Many of their in-person services like child development activities and parenting education were affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, but FCC took the challenge in stride, utilizing creative methods to support families in this unprecedented time.

FCC has dropped off food, formula, diapers, learning activities, COVID-19 updates and voting information – delivered by a friendly (masked) face – to hundreds of local families. Other community partners even got involved in the effort. Partnering with FCC, local favorite Eat’n Park took meals to families who couldn’t leave their homes, delivering more than 2,000 meals between April and May.

In cases where in-person help isn’t possible, technology has become an important part of reaching families. For example, a behavioral therapist sends out daily emails to promote routines, chores and behavior support for parents who are home with children. Parents can also call or email the therapist with questions or when they need individualized support. Individual centers have set up new Facebook pages and are providing early childhood resources and parent-child classes online. And some uses of technology are just for fun — one of the centers hosted a virtual dance party for children and families.

A final shout out goes to the FCC children who graduated kindergarten in spite of the pandemic. While a community celebration wasn’t possible, they had a virtual event to celebrate their big accomplishment.