Future Goals
1. Improve the lives of families in and around Worcester by supporting them where they are in their journey.
2. Expand and cultivate the Early Intervention Program to provide more services to families with children birth to three post-pandemic.
3. Reopen in-person home visiting and developmental play groups safely.
4. Plan and pilot the Universal Newborn Home Visiting Program for Worcester, a new program funded by the Reimagining Phase of the Worcester Together Fund of the United Way of Central MA and the Greater Worcester Community Foundation
5. Develop referral relationships with our maternal child health providers to increase the number of parents of newborns receiving a home visit.
6. Increase Public Awareness for Pernet through strong involvement with United Way of Central MA, the Health Foundation of Central MA, Greater Worcester Community Foundations, Reliant Foundation, YWCA, United Service Executives, The Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative, the WDPH, UMass Medical School, UMass Memorial Health Care, Together for Kids Coalition, and more.
7. Form a collaborative with Family Health Center of Worcester, Kennedy Community Health Center, and the Worcester Healthy Baby Collaborative, as well as UMass Memorial Newborn Nursery to provide a safety net for newborns and their parents.
8. Strengthen the safety net for families by crisis stabilization, capacity building and civic engagement.
Fundraising Events/Opportunities
Virtual Wine Tasting – September 24, 2021, purchase a ticket, sponsor the event, donate an online auction item, donate cash/check/online www.pernetfamilyhealth.org
Pernet Cup Curling Challenge – April 2022, sponsor the event, register a team, donate a silent auction item, donate cash/check/online
Virtual Baby Shower – May 1st – May 31st annually – donate diapers, baby food, infant formula, feminine products, baby books
For sponsorship or donations, please contact Wanja Kiraguri at wkiraguri@pernetfamilyhealth.org
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer opportunities are available for the Food Pantry, Youth mentors, Homework Club, Holiday Program, yard work, interior painting and cleaning, committee work, such as fund development, personnel and program development as well as Board of Directors potential nominees.
Giving Opportunities
Pernet Family Health Service accepts in-kind, gift cards and monetary donations year-round and we are thankful to all who support us in advancing our mission of helping families in need.
Ways you can give:
Emergency Assistance Program – We accept in-kind donations, such as dried or canned food for the food pantry, diapers, infant formula, menstrual products, grocery store gift cards and online/mail-in donations. Contact Wanja Kiraguri at wkiraguri@pernetfamilyhealth.org
Holiday Program – During Thanksgiving, Pernet makes sure each family can celebrate together by providing a traditional Thanksgiving meal or a grocery gift card to buy their cultural food. During the holidays children in each family get one gift to open through the generosity of our donors. To donate, please contact Yildiz Laza at ylaza@pernetfamilyhealth.org
Virtual Baby Shower – Donate diapers, infant formula, baby food, baby books. Contact Wanja Kiraguri at wkiraguri@pernetfamilyhealth.org
Post-pandemic
We have reimagined how we deliver services and resources to the families we serve. The Parenting and the Fathers’ groups achieved their best attendance when done virtually and we are considering having some groups meet in person and others virtually. We will keep some staff supervision and meetings virtually, especially when our staff are in between home visits. Despite the successes of telehealth, we maintain the in-person visits with children 0-3 years are vital for their growth. Our Emergency Assistance Program remained in operation, and we were able to help families and individuals facing food insecurity and we plan to always have it open.
