Family Resources Can Help You
More About Family Resources
Family Resources Website
Desktop Kiosks of Information
Ambassador Development Program
How You Can Help Family Resources
Mission & Goals
Community Steering Committee
Advisory Group
History of Family Resources

Family Resources engages our
community to build on existing
strengths and services to promote
the well-being of our families and
their children.

Let us count the many ways...

Family Resources is your link to recycling,
paths for biking, trails for hiking,

child care,
street repair,
volleyball,
City Hall,

dog runs for dog walkers,
support groups for need-to-talkers,

softball leagues,
soccer leagues,

swimming pools,
all sorts of schools,

the Palo Alto Art Center,
assistance for the housing renter,

recreation information,
public access cable station,

ice skaters,
mediators,

senior care, food for you,
Children's Theatre, the Petting Zoo,

volunteer opportunities
in your community,

hotlines, warmlines, bus lines, parks,
libraries, May Fête, health care, the arts,

neighborhood and civic groups,
tennis courts, basketball hoops,

services for people with disabilities,
how to reserve picnic facilities,

multicultural and ethnic festivities,
foreign language accessibility,

the Junior Museum, the people next door,
emergency services, all this and more.

FAMILY RESOURCES CAN HELP YOU

• Do you find yourself in a situation about which you have no past experience or knowledge?
  
• Do you lack the time to make investigations into the resources that might be helpful to you?
  
• Does the very need to make the investigation add to the stress you already feel?
  
• Does it seem like there is no place to turn for help?

Use this website.
If you would like assistance in using this website,Palo Alto's Public Libraries offer free instruction on how to navigate the web. For immediate assistance, call Family Resources at (650) 329-2221.

Give us a call (650-329-2221).
You may also call Family Resources to speak with a Resource Specialist. On the phone we can help you navigate the website, answer questions, or provide clarifications and additional information.

Come by the Family Resources office (4000 Middlefield Rd, T-2).
In our office, you can speak to a Resource Specialist in person. You can also browse our resource materials collected from a variety of sources, sorted in the same eight resource categories found on this website.

We are here to help alleviate the stresses and frustrations of looking for resource information to help your family. If we do not know or cannot find the information you need quickly, we will do the investigations for you and search for the resources you need.

MORE ABOUT FAMILY RESOURCES

Family Resources is a community-based program conceived in response to changing social conditions that left families feeling isolated and with increasingly complex needs. Family Resources will help you find the resources and make the connections your family needs.

During the development of Family Resources, a task force comprised of family service providers, community members, and city staff worked together to respond to the societal changes which created new stresses and isolations but which coexist with the persistent need in individuals, families, and neighborhoods, for a sense of belonging, trust, and participation. Looking to our community to help define the problem and the solution, Family Resources conducted surveys and focus groups at the outset of its conception. These community inquiries revealed a desire for better and easier ways to know about and utilize the services available to meet their needs and a desire to know one another. New approaches were needed for providing resource information and creating connections to cultivate the strong bonds of community that contribute to family health and wellbeing.

Family Resources works to raise the level of resource awareness in the community, a first prerequisite to service utilization, as well as building community relationships across all community constituents. In this way, accessibility and utilization will be made easier and more comfortable, improving and equalizing the opportunities for all families to utilize the wealth of services and resources available to them. In the process of accomplishing this goal, those involved will be working together, exercising the spirit of community, and making a conscious effort to infuse that spirit while spreading resource information into the larger community.

Family Resources made the decision to reach out to families where they normally find themselves, creating a de-centralized system of information dissemination and family support. Rather than expect families to go out of their way to visit a geographic "center" to find service information and connections, Family Resources disseminates information and creates connections in neighborhoods, workplaces, childcare facilities, schools, faith centers, and other places where people meet throughout the community.

Family Resources is dedicated to creating and strengthening community across all constituent populations. Recognizing that all families have myriad common concerns and needs, Family Resources brings together a mixed community cohort in the Ambassador Development Program. Building connections and sharing information across the diversity of the community, Family Resources creates opportunities for understanding, appreciating and learning from one another.

To this end, Family Resources has designed five innovative approaches to increase knowledge about resources and ease of service utilization, and to strengthen community: a Website, Internet Access Sites, Desktop Kiosks of Information, an Ambassador Development Program, a Hub. An overall balance of "High-Tech" and "High-Touch" characterizes these approaches.

FAMILY RESOURCES APPROACHES

1. Family Resources Website

Welcome to the Family Resources website. It was created in response to focus groups and surveys reporting the need for an easy way to find resource information. It is the foundation piece for Family Resources efforts to raise the level of resource awareness in our community, a prerequisite to addressing family needs. Launched in January 2000, it is available around the clock to the entire community through personal computers or public internet access sites. Because every resource record is updated annually, it is a reliable source of accurate information about more than 580 resources. The ability to search this extensive information in a variety of ways including service descriptions, target groups, key words, and agency names, guarantees easy and flexible retrieval, making it a relevant tool for both users and providers of services. Resource lists are also provided in the four most prominent languages of the community (Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese).

By using this website, a list of appropriate resources can be quickly developed from the vast array of those available. With this information the user can make a selective number of investigations, ask their own questions, and make choices based on personal preferences. The time and energy saved by using this website can be spent with family and the community. The website supports the work of the Family Resources Ambassadors who take information about resources and appropriate connections to their communities. Ambassadors introduce the website to their communities, in conjunction with the Desktop Kiosk of Information, providing assistance with the technology if necessary. With these tools, families can become self-reliant in identifying resources that meet their needs.

The resources in our community are organized on this website into eight categories of services:

Emergency/Crisis
Basic Needs
Child Care
Community Resources
Disability Resources
Education
Health Care
Mental Health & Counseling

These resource categories are used throughout Family Resources information tools creating a common language about resources and a recognizable organization structure, assisting retrieval and speeding searches. By incorporating the nationally used standards of the Alliance of Information & Referral Systems and Infoline, Los Angeles, the Family Resources database can exchange information with other similarly standardized websites such as Santa Clara County's resource website, HelpSCC.org.

On these pages you will also meet some of our local service providers, volunteers, community members and leaders. Their personal greetings are an effort to initiate connections with you and to reflect the importance of families and the resources supporting them. Their messages honor families, offer potential clients a sense of familiarity, and extend a welcoming invitation to step forward, utilize services, and participate in the community. Although the individual messages are from particular individuals and particular services, the Family Resources website is dedicated to impartial representation of all the resources available to enrich, support, and serve the families in this community. Those featured in the photo / voice-messages support the Family Resources mission and goals, and most have collaborated to make this service available for you.

This website is under constant revision. The data is updated annually in quarterly cycles. The information has been gathered from publicly available sources. Family Resources does not guarantee the accuracy of the information nor do we license, endorse, or recommend the providers, services, and programs, represented here. In addition, Family Resources, a non-profit organization, reaps no financial benefit from listing any of the resources you will find on this website. Nor do we have anything to gain by your use of any particular resource listed here. When you leave this website, we offer you the opportunity to submit corrections and give us your feedback.

The Family Resources website has received unsolicited accolades for its innovative use of technology in support of community. FederalComputerWeek highlighted 10 innovative websites they judged as worth watching. "To find these sites, FederalComputerWeek interviewed Internet experts in and out of government to seek opinions on which sites rise above the ordinary." The Family Resources website was the only one originating at the municipal, as opposed to federal, level. The national organization, civic.com, reviews civic use of technology in the service of community and featured the Family Resources website on its internet site and in its monthly hardcopy magazine. M.I.T. nominated the Family Resources website for its eCitizen Service Award, recognizing government excellence in electronic citizen service.

2. Internet Access Sites

It is a long-standing view of the Family Resources team that all people should be provided with opportunities to access the Family Resources website regardless of whether or not they have internet access at their home. To achieve this, nine collaborating sites offering public internet access are featured in Family Resources publicity materials, including a map to their locations.

In addition, Family Resources provided a community-based internet access site in collaboration with the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD), located at Preschool Family, a PAUSD parent education preschool program with over 300 families with young children enrolled each year.

Click here to see a map of internet access locations.

3. Desktop Kiosks of Information

The Family Resources Desktop Kiosks of Information provide an easily viewable hard-copy display of selected resources from the Family Resources website plus maps, brochures and other graphic information. The Desktop Kiosks are sorted by the same color-coded resource categories used on the Family Resources website. The organizational structure assists the client in the first steps of a resource search, and by repeating that structure across all Family Resources materials, families and providers in the community can recognize a common language about resources, assisting their retrieval skills and speeding their searches.

The Desktop Kiosks of Information are placed in a variety of locations in the community such as public libraries, schools, resource centers, child care facilities, service organizations, and community centers. Each Desktop Kiosk is supported by a Family Resources Ambassador who is available to assist in the Kiosk usage, answer additional questions, and who takes responsibility for its safekeeping and for incorporating all updated materials supplied by Family Resources.

There are more than 60 kiosks located throughout town: 11 at affiliate sites where public internet access is also available. The remaining kiosks are located in the communities of Family Resources Ambassadors who support the Kiosk's use. The Kiosk map shows the location of kiosks in Palo Alto. The growing number of Ambassadors and Kiosks, in addition to the website, assures the community of convenient, up-to-date, and easily assessable information about resources to meet the needs of families.

Click here to see a map of kiosk locations.

4. Ambassador Development Program

The Ambassador Development Program is a person-to-person, information-sharing, and community-building component of Family Resources. It teaches and practices the importance of creating, nurturing, and sustaining connections upon which healthy families and community depend. Trained Ambassadors disseminate information and connections across our community's diverse constituency in meaningful and effective ways through personalization and cultural adaptations. They facilitate family access to resources and increase the likelihood of reaching isolated individuals and those out of the mainstream of information exchange.

Each Ambassador training cohort reflects a cross section of the community's constituency, including all income levels, ages, and ethnicities. They might be neighborhood activists, grass roots organization members, community members at large, service provider directors & staff, or City officials & staff, for example. Rather than targeting, therefore isolating, disadvantaged groups, all constituents are brought together to illuminate and address common as well as unique needs. By building connections and strengthening family support across the spectrum of community constituency, Family Resources creates opportunities for understanding, appreciating, and learning from one another.

The Ambassador Development training educates Ambassadors about resources, including fees and eligibility requirements; about using Family Resources tools (website & kiosk); about skills for community building; and more. Service providers and community leaders make presentations and develop connections to the Ambassadors. Ambassador graduates are available to carry their skills for using FR tools, their enhanced resource information, and their resource connections deep within their own individual neighborhood, workplace, childcare, school, faith, and/or other communities as appropriate. Ambassadors bring back to Family Resources enhanced awareness of the needs of distinctive communities and suggestions for better ways to serve these families

Ambassadors spend one morning a month together for 6 months. Each meeting is rich with resource information and opportunities for trainees and trainers to learn from one another. Snacks, occasional lunches, and interactive learning honor community participants and provide an occasion to develop connections and friendships: among the diverse Ambassador representation, with Family Resources staff, and with the service providers and leaders who make presentations.

Graduates of the training have gained an in-depth understanding of the community's assets and the relationship of those assets to family wellbeing. They have also developed the skills and connections to facilitate links between resources and needs in the community. The Ambassadors may take a Family Resources Desktop Kiosk of Information for use in their own community. These Ambassadors agree to support the Kiosk use, ensure its safekeeping, and take responsibility for incorporating all updated materials supplied by Family Resources.

Independent outside evaluation of the Ambassador Development Program is conducted by Bob Rossi, Ph.D., Ex. Dir., ibuildcommunities.com, formerly of the American Institutes for Research, Center for Community Research. He worked closely with John W. Gardner, Ph.D. to develop expertise in program planning, implementation, and program evaluation, with a particular emphasis on community building. All evaluations are posted at www.ambassadorsR.us

The Family Resources Ambassador Development Program has been named a "Priority Strategy" by the Santa Clara County First 5 Commission and recommended for replication in the other 14 cities of Santa Clara County.

Cliick here for a sample syllabus & photos

5. Hub Development

The lobby of the City of Palo Alto's Cubberley Community Center serves as the hub for Family Resources. There you can speak to trained resources specialists who are familiar with all aspects of the Family Resources program. You will find a small, comfortable reading and conversation area. You can browse resource materials collected from a variety of sources and sorted into the same eight resource categories found on this website.

HOW YOU CAN HELP FAMILY RESOURCES

Community members can help others in many ways.

Family Resources has information about opportunities to volunteer or participate in the community.

Community members can become Family Resources Ambassadors and join in serving our community and its families. They will attend a community-building Ambassador Development Program to develop relationships with local providers and other community members, to understand the connection between community resources and family wellbeing, and to enhance community-building skills and sensitivity to community needs.

Financial contributions and in-kind services support the many activities of Family Resources and are greatly appreciated. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

It is likely that you have connections, suggestions, or information appropriate to Family Resources. Please step forward with these contributions to help others in the community through Family Resources. When you leave this website, we offer the opportunity to give us your feedback.

MISSION STATEMENT & GOALS

The mission of Family Resources is to engage our community to build on existing strengths and services to promote the well being of our families and their children.

The goals of Family Resources are to

1) Make families and providers aware of pertinent services, resources, and programs through the dissemination of family related information in a variety of formats and frequently visited locations;

2) Provide the means to allow families to connect with one another for mutual support;

3) Facilitate neighborhoods and community groups' identification and addressing of specific needs by using Family Resources as a resource;

4) Develop an administrative hub that will provide the community with a clearinghouse for information, and a place to meet and serve as resources for each other;

5) Facilitate the provider community strengthening itself though collaboration and networking, thereby sharing resources and providing families with more comprehensive services; and

6) Assess and evaluate access to existing programs and services, and to recommend changes or enhancements to meet the emerging family needs of the community.

COMMUNITY STEERING COMMITEE

HISTORY OF FAMILY RESOURCES

Palo Alto's Family Resources began as a concept that was embraced by City Council Member Liz Kniss during her term as Mayor in 1994. Council Member Kniss convened a broad-based Task Force to familiarize itself with the concerns of Palo Alto's families and to develop a plan for the City to assist in addressing some of those needs.

During 1994 - 1996 community members and non-profit service providers formed a Task Force (TF) which conducted a comprehensive needs assessment of Palo Alto through community forums, focus groups, and surveys. Two major themes emerged:

1) While there is a vast array of services provided in the Palo Alto community, easier access to information about these services is desirable.

2) Families are experiencing an increased sense of isolation.

In May 1996, the Task Force presented to the City Council a Family Resources Business Plan, based on the information collected from the needs assessment. The main objectives of the plan were to facilitate connections between people, to decrease the isolation experienced by many young families, and to build community. The Family Resources information database would eventually include services for all families. However, initial efforts would emphasize coverage of resources for families with children of ages 0-6 years.

During 1997, a Family Resources Advisory Group (TF Advisory Group), comprised of a subset of the Task Force and City staff, worked together to refine the Family Resources Plan. The TF Advisory Group developed a revised Family Resources Plan: a three-phase implementation plan based on a collaboration of family service providers, the City of Palo Alto, and the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD).

In February 1998, the Palo Alto City Council approved the three-phase Family Resource Center Implementation plan and a budget for Phase One. The budget for Phase One provides for operating expenses for the Phase One activities, including the development of a database, the design of a website, and the development of a training program; and includes funds to hire staff members, a fund developer, and a web design consultant.

The public availability of the Family Resources website with a searchable database of resources serving this community marks the completion of Phase One. Family Resources, Phase One, was also characterized by the following:

1) A community-based Steering Committee providing Family Resources with overall guidance and policy direction;

2) A Family Resources staff specialized in resource information;

3) New systems of resources information dissemination (The Family Resources website, Desktop kiosks of information, and person to person information exchange initiated in the Ambassador Development Program);

4) A network of family service providers, working together with Family Resources to serve the community;

5) A plan for Family Resources promotion and advocacy;

6) A long-range strategic plan for Family Resources fund development; and Evaluation measures to evaluate the success of Family Resources.

The completion of Phase One was accomplished in January 2000.

Family Resources is funded primarily by the City of Palo Alto and fund development efforts. 1.5 FTE city staff positions are dedicated to working with the Community Steering Committee. During Phase One and Phase Two, Family Resources gained strong community support. The objective for Phase Three is that Family Resources' reliance on City funds will diminish significantly. To that end, a strong fund development component is a critical factor will be essential.

The Family Resources project currently resides within the City of Palo Alto's Cubberley Center & Human Services Division, within the Community Services Department. For more information, contact Sharon Murphy, Child and Family Resources Manager at (650) 329-2280 or email familyresources@cityofpaloalto.org