Health and Development
Coordinated Early Intervention Services Crucial for Oregon Families
After her son was diagnosed with autism, Ashley Wells navigated what felt like a maze of information to access the resources she and her family needed. Once she connected with Early Intervention (EI) through the Douglas Education Service District (Douglas ESD),...
Eager Learners: Earl Boyles Serves Infants and Toddlers in Play and Learn Program
“Put your shaker on your nose, on your nose!” A dozen parents and caregivers, gathered in a classroom at Earl Boyles Elementary in southeast Portland, sing along together, encouraging their children to touch their egg-shaped shaker-instruments to their noses. Many...
Good Health = Great Kids
Children’s Institute releases its latest policy brief about the importance of early childhood health and development in improving school readiness and building a foundation for third-grade achievement. When children aren’t healthy, they have difficulty learning....
Keeping the glass half-full: Yoncalla’s parenting education series puts parents first
This year’s parenting education series in Yoncalla simply feels different. Although Erin Helgren, Early Works site liaison for Yoncalla, has facilitated the evidenced-based parenting education series in Yoncalla for many years, she says she has “never seen a...
Growing Healthy Minds
Our newest video highlights the Children’s Institute’s partnerships with two communities doing amazing work: Lane County and Wallowa County....
2016 MIYB: 4th Alexander Award presented to Wallowa County
At our 8th annual Make It Your Business event, we presented the 2016 Alexander Award to Wallowa County, where Building Healthy Families and the Winding Waters Medical Clinic have formed a unique and effective partnership. The award was accepted by Maria Weer of...
2016 MIYB: Keynote Address by Dr. Dana Suskind
Dr. Dana Suskind is a national expert on early language development and co-author of Thirty Million Words: Building a Child’s Brain. At the Children’s Institute’s 2016 Make It Your Business event, she inspired the audience with neuroscience...
Collaboration in Wallowa connects health to early learning
Maria Weer with children at the library. At the time, Liz Powers and Maria Weer were both relative newcomers to Wallowa County. Liz was a new family practice physician in Enterprise. Maria worked for a non-profit organization called Building Healthy...
Thirty Million Words: A Conversation with Dr. Dana Suskind
We recently spoke with Dr. Dana Suskind, founder and director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative, about what inspired her to become an expert on early language development. She also shares some advice on how families can support young children to develop...
Three rural communities come together to create a vision for health
Dr. Beth Green, the researcher who leads the Portland State University team entrusted with the evaluation of the Early Works initiative, is walking down the street in rural Drain, Oregon when she is greeted by a stranger’s voice: “Hey! Are you with that...