By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
Tulalip Family Haven knocked it out of the park when selecting Sasha Smith and Alayna Helland to run the Tribe’s Family Spirit program because they are two of the liveliest spirits you could meet. They are relatable, enthusiastic, caring, and quite frankly, funny as hell. It is often said that it takes a village to raise a child, but with just the support from these two ladies, who exude big auntie energy, you could be set from prenatal ‘til your kiddo hits the age of five.
“We say that we’re professional aunties,” Alayna exclaimed. “We do wraparound services. I can work with moms from pregnancy up to three, and Sasha can work with moms from pregnancy up to five. One of our goals is to get them started with our services when they’re pregnant, because we do prenatal health and then we also promote healthy early childhood learning.”
Family Spirit has been around for a few years, and has helped many families, but it is presently going through a bit of a rebrand in hopes of drawing in more people to participate in the program. Through Family Spirit, clients will gain access to a number of resources as well as learn new tools to help their babies thrive and be happy and healthy throughout early childhood.
As many parents know, those early stages are crucially important in a child’s life. And for both new parents and experienced guardians alike, this era can sometimes be overwhelming. But have no fear, if you are raising a young Tulalip tribal member and need additional support, Family Spirit is here.
Said Alayna, “We give personalized support, emotional support, we help with child development support, and we also do parenting skills, like more on the behavioral side. We teach things like consistency and positive parenting tips. And we also help connect them to resources. Like right now, I’m helping somebody get enrolled in behavioral health because they want to do counseling. We can help people get into WIC, and we can also provide transportation to things like medical appointments. A huge part of our job is providing that emotional support.”
“We really want to just connect with them where they’re at in their parenting journey and help them navigate through all of that,” adds Sasha. “We hold a lot of knowledge of resources. They come to us for the resources because we’re connecting with everybody – the courthouse, TELA, the Recovery Resource Center, homeless shelter, Family Services, the health clinic. We’re constantly gathering those resources and thinking of how we can help promote wellness and community for our families.”
The ladies also explained that they provide screenings for the young ones to gauge where they are at in early childhood development, assessing things such as communication skills, fine motor skills, and social-emotional skills. This helps identify areas where the child may need a little extra support. And by doing this work, parents are then able to set goals and further engage with their kids in a fun and meaningful way while focusing on those specific areas.
“There are different milestones where we’ll do ASQ’s, which is a tool we use to see where the kids are at developmentally,” Sasha explained. “So, at six months, nine months, twelve months, we’ll sit down with the family, and we’ll talk about fine motor skills. Are they talking? Are they walking? And if they aren’t, then let’s bring in materials and get you and your baby to play together, encouraging a certain kind of play so you can work on that together. And we’re not putting that on the parent like they’re doing something wrong or something that isn’t right. It’s more about how do we support them through that? Maybe they just didn’t realize that at this certain age they should be doing certain things.”
Another aspect that Family Spirit focuses on is the mental wellbeing of the parent, through pregnancy, postpartum, and during the early phase of parenthood. Parents and guardians are encouraged to participate in Family Haven’s weekly peer support groups such as Mom’s Group and Dad’s Group in order to interact with likeminded folk and build community with each other. By doing this, the parents will be able to relate to any challenges they face and celebrate each other’s triumphs, and also offer any advice that could be useful to other parents along their journey.
So, if you are a parent or guardian of a Tribal member under the age of five, and could use additional support, resources, or parenting skills, be sure to reach out to Family Spirit. And if you have any anxiety of participating in a program like this, a few moments with Sasha and Alayna will help ease that pressure and you will soon forget all about it because you will be too busy rolling with laughter.
“We really want to increase enrollment,” Alayna stated. “If you need an extra support person in your corner, or if you just want to hang out with a mom like me, we really want families who want to participate. What is at the forefront for you and your family right now, what do you want to work on for you and your kids? And wherever you’re at in life, we’ll meet you there.”
Sasha voiced, “It really is a journey because we incorporate the culture and make sure we’re honoring each family’s individual needs; like where do they want to be and how do they want to raise their family? It’s not us coming in and telling them how to be. It’s homing in on what their experiences of what a family should or could be. Because every family is different, they have different styles, cultural beliefs. We just want everybody to see and understand what Family Spirit is, how supportive it is and how it can benefit your family.”
For more information about Family Spirit, please contact (360) 716-3284 or visit www.tulaliptribes-nsn.gov/Dept/FamilyHaven. And be sure to give the Tulalip Mom’s Group Facebook page a like to stay up to date on any upcoming events and activities.