LICC Highlight

In many ways, Durham County is rich in resources for young children and their families who may need or want extra support. As is true in many places, though, the landscape of available services-- and the requirements and procedures for accessing those services-- is constantly shifting. The challenge of keeping up with referral options and processes, even for seasoned providers and experienced families, has been discussed at the Durham LICC and many other collaborative tables for years. So when the pandemic began and virtual platforms became the norm for service provision, a coalition of local early childhood groups began working on a digital resource guide to address this need. 

Initiated by the Durham Early Childhood Mental Health Task Force, supported by Durham’s READY Project, and informed by local families, the Nurturing Durham website (www.nurturingdurhamnc.org), a Resource Guide for Durham’s Young Children, Parents & Families, launched in August 2021. Recognizing that Nurturing Durham could resolve the challenge of having an up-to-date, easy-to-use referral guide and thereby advance Child Find goals, Durham’s LICC offered to put its support behind the project. Specifically, the LICC has funded professional translation for all of the text on the site to ensure Nurturing Durham is equally accessible to Durham’s large population of Spanish-speaking families. Durham LICC members have also been key champions for the site, promoting the site in their networks and using it in their own work to help connect families to available resources.

Nothing is wasted, not one experience or coffee-stained t-shirt. From 2013-2015, I lost four pregnancies. We relocated to WNC in unfamiliar territory and felt utterly alone. In 2016, we sat in the PICU with our newborn son, fighting for his life after open-heart surgery. My sister snuggled his identical twin an hour away. My husband worked and delivered breastmilk to the baby. One month later, we came home as strangers embarking on our parenting journey.

Sixteen voicemails to return, new service providers, additional physicians, and several new medications were waiting. By 15 months old Baby B endured another surgery and was making significant gains. At 20 months Baby A was diagnosed with a lifelong disability. I was crushed. I never saw open heart surgery, feeding tubes, or therapy as a part of motherhood.

I found FSN [Family Support Network], they taught me several skills and encouraged learning more. They believed in me and later invited me to sit as a Parent Representative for our local ICC and to join the FSN board. I learned to advocate across many settings for our son. He lives and loves big!! Foundations of Advocacy were embedded into the services my son received in CDSA, and I am grateful. I was surrounded by service providers and Family Support workers who saw more in me than I could see in myself. Now I get to grow in family leadership, make a difference in our community for other families, and improve systems. The educated others in my life were not only passionate about my children but were passionate about me and my family. Not only did they engage me, but they also walked beside me in partnership. My boys are fully integrated into their community; though it has not always been easy, it is worth it. Believe in yourself; you belong here!