Resources for Kids and Families!

August 29, 2021

As families head back into the school year and in-person learning, we want to offer our gratitude and respect for everyone who is working so hard to make this happen in the times we are living through; teachers, school administrators and support staff, parents and the kiddos!

It is a daily balancing act.

Hearing from one mother who's children already are back to in-person school, the lift in spirits is obvious for the kiddos, even as the "normal" challenges of understaffed, over-crowded, under-funded schools and programs become more apparent with each school opening and each school day. Oh for the days of normal challenges.

Meanwhile, weighing the benefits to the mental and emotional health of school children with the potential of community spreading of COVID19 and it's known variants is an everyday risk analysis and management issue for families and school districts everywhere. There's so much to learn, so many ways to grow, change and adapt, so much unknown and unknowable. We hope the resources offered here can provide support and guidance for families in our community, in staying healthy, safe and engaged in learning, growing and rebuilding together the relationships and systems that have suffered since early 2020.

If you know of more resources we'd love to add them to this post, so please get in touch using our contact form or by email to hello@empowerment4girls.com.

note: underlined text links to outside resources

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Health and Safety for Families

Useful links:

Washington State Health Department COVID19 Resources and Recommendations for Families

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction COVID19 Resources to Support Student Well-being and School Safety

Self-Care

Our Empowerment Camp Zine is a resource guide that offers reminders, tips and information about self-care. It's also a fun and quick creative project with a design for playing with color using pencils, pens and crayons and it folds easily into a booklet to keep on-hand. Click the image to download and print on 11x17 paper.

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Puberty, Sexuality and Gender Expression

Our Conscious Minds Conscious Bodies Camp Zine is a resource guide for:
Self-Care Tools
Tips for Healthy Relationships
Period Self-Care
Period Care Products
Books About Puberty

Click the image to download and print on 11x17 paper. Have fun coloring and folding into a handy booklet!

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Amaze - Age appropriate discussion resources on the web

Pizza Klatch
Fosters resilience in LGBTQ+ youth in Olympia
360-339-7574

Stonewall Youth Olympia
Events and peer support for youth - listing of doctors and therapists who are supportive of LGBTQ+ youth
360-888-4273 (call or text)

Emergency - Trevor Hotline
24 hour suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ youth
1-800-850-8078

Compassionate, Effective Communication

Communication is a lot more work than talking; telling each other how we feel and what we think, expressing our dreams, desires and disappointments. It requires deep listening, observation, personal reflection, and action based on understanding the truth as it is, not how we want it to be. With these practices we begin to open more fully to what others are expressing in conversation, as we strive together for a better understanding of ourselves, each other and the world, that together, we are creating and sharing. This article from Creating The Future offers tips and resources for learning and practicing compassionate listening; a skill we all can use some help with throughout our lifetimes.