The August 1 Strong Families, Resilient Communities and World Class Education Call to Action event at the Keizer Civic Center opened to a capacity crowd of educators, social service, business and government leaders. A day-long dialogue explored building community resilience in a way that strengthens families and supports world class education in Salem-Keizer Public Schools.
Keynote Speaker, Amelia Franck Meyer, founder and CEO of Alia, delivered a powerful call to action for everyone in the room to work together and do everything possible to support parents facing adversity to provide safe, stable home environments for their children. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, Alia enlisted innovators from throughout the US to develop a system that would transform child welfare to a more just and loving way to work. Together, they developed a model they refer to as the “un-system” after concluding that the best system for child welfare already exists – the family. This system, like CCS’ Fostering Hope Initiative, focuses on natural community supports for the entire family. It seeks to build resilience, joy, wellbeing and health through family-driven, culturally specific local resources.
At the end of the day, attendees were asked to join one of several committees including the Hallman Neighborhood Family Council and the Strong Families, Resilient Neighborhoods Team.
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Keynote Powerpoint