Embracing Diversity in our Community

At Family Paths, we strive to create a positive and supportive environment for our staff, where we can also challenge ourselves to deeper learning on a variety of topics. Cultural competency is a core value in the work we do and is essential in our effort to serve children and families in respectful and inclusive ways.

-Marcella Reeves, Executive Director

As part of our on-going mission to maintain a culturally competent agency, on September 22nd Family Paths' employees were led in an intensive day-long training titled "Building Dialog in Inclusive Communities," put on by Tarah Fleming of Start Dialog, and funded by Title IV-E.

It was a thought-provoking and exciting day. We examined issues surrounding culture and race, as well as the importance of talking to children and to each other about these complex issues. Tarah shared with us her principles of dialogue, which we were encouraged to practice throughout the day and include in our everyday lives.

The workshop was mind-opening and compelling, and our thanks go out to The California Endowment for providing the space for the training, Start Dialog for the excellent program, and the staff at Family Paths who organized the training. It is so important that adults and children in our communities have the tools they need to talk about and navigate through issues of race and discrimination, and trainings like these are vital for us to keep that conversation going.