Elena Tutunaru, a community social worker from Vorniceni, believes in the Family Friendly Space (Spa\u021biu Prietenos Familiei) that was recently opened in her community.\u00a0“I think the most important benefit is that parents are listened to, guided and at the same time involved in the decisions that concern them. The fact that they are asked for their opinion makes them feel valued. This involvement motivates them to actively participate in each meeting.”<\/b><\/p>\n
As part of the\u00a0Family Strengthening pilot<\/a>\u00a0organized by Moldova\u2019s Ministry of Labor and Social Protection with support from CTWWC partner, Partnerships for Every Child (P4EC), Family Friendly Spaces have been created in four communities: Vorniceni, Stra\u0219eni; Co\u0219ni\u021ba, Dub\u0103sari; Bardar; Ialoveni; and H\u00eertopul Mare, Criuleni. The Family Strengthening program is piloting an updated and efficient model of primary support activities to foster community support, strengthen families and prevent separation risks. This program has been developed within the framework of Moldova\u2019s\u00a0Social Support Service for Families with Children<\/a>\u00a0(SSF).<\/p>\n The\u00a0Family Friendly Spaces<\/em>\u00a0provide the social worker, as well as multidisciplinary team members from the community, with a welcoming and accessible environment where\u00a0al<\/b>l families with children can participate in activities and access resources that support the harmonious growth and development of children. Typically located in the community\u2019s Town Hall, mayors also play an integral role in promoting and advocating for resources and activities that foster family resilience.<\/p>\n In addition, through the Family Strengthening pilot program, community social workers are receiving methodological support, assistance and resources necessary to implement activities and interventions that are tailored to community needs.<\/p>\n Speaking at the launch event of the\u00a0Family Friendly Space<\/em>\u00a0in Vorniceni on behalf of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Anastasia Gruzin (deputy head of the Department for Protection of Children\u2019s Rights and of Families with Children) underscored Moldova\u2019s commitment to strengthening families and preventing separation.\u00a0“The inauguration of this space comes at a crucial moment, reflecting the state\u2019s commitment to putting family at the center of child welfare policies. Strong and united communities help create a more resilient and supportive environment for children\u2019s development.”<\/b><\/p>\n After leading and participating in some of the initial activities of Vorniceni\u2019s\u00a0Family Friendly Space<\/em>, Ms. Tutunaru truly understood the value and potential of these gathering spaces for creating a conduit between the social worker and the community in order to build and strengthen support networks. She shared a compelling example of solidarity and advocacy by a group of parents who were concerned about their young children\u2019s speech challenges. Led by Ms. Tutunaru, this initiative gathered sufficient support to approach local authorities and the mayor, aiming to secure a speech therapist for the community. Sharing this experience, Ms. Tutunaru emphasized that this example demonstrates\u00a0“how this model of support at the community level helps us to anticipate needs, mobilize and intervene before problems become more serious.”<\/b><\/p>\n Together with CTWWC and the MLSP, Partnerships for Every Child is leading the Family Strengthening pilot. Natalia Semeniuc, Project Coordinator at P4EC, shares the joint vision for these family-friendly spaces, which are being carefully assessed in order to recommend a scalable model of family support services to be rolled out across the Republic of Moldova.\u00a0“These spaces are more than mere gathering places; in the long term they will evolve into the heartbeats of their communities, becoming vital for strengthening family bonds and fostering community resilience.”<\/b><\/p>\n Changing The Way We Care\u2120 (CTWWC) is a global initiative implemented by Catholic Relief Services and Maestral International, along with other global, national and local partners working together to change the way we care for children around the world. In the Republic of Moldova, CTWWC is implemented in partnership with CCF Moldova, Keystone Moldova and Partnerships for Every Child with the support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.<\/p>\n CTWWC is funded in part by a Global Development Alliance of USAID and the GHR Foundation.<\/p>\n Need to know more?<\/b>\u00a0Contact Changing the Way We Care at,\u00a0info@ctwwc.org<\/a>\u00a0or visit\u00a0changingthewaywecare.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Elena Tutunaru, a community social worker from Vorniceni, believes in the Family Friendly Space (Spa\u021biu Prietenos Familiei) that was recently opened in her community.\u00a0“I think the most important benefit is that parents are listened to, guided and at the same time involved in the decisions that concern them. The fact that they are asked for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[128,136,145],"class_list":["post-3518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-criuleni-en","tag-ialoveni-en","tag-straseni-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3519,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3518\/revisions\/3519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/p4ec.md\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}