Un-Un Che, pregnant and newly arrived in San Francisco from China, felt lost. When a friend told her about the Joy Lok Family Resource Center, she started going to parenting workshops and a weekly support group.

“Before attending workshops, I would get frustrated with my child and scold her when she acted up,” says Che, who is now vice-chair of Joy Lok FRC’s Parent Advisory Committee, “but now, I’ve learned to calmly talk to her to understand why. This has helped me better communicate with her.”

Wu Yee Children’s Services, S.F. Chinatown’s child care resource and referral agency, started the Joy Lok FRC because they saw that parents needed more support than a traditional child care agency provides. “We go beyond child care services to help parents in a more in-depth way,” says Homer Teng, family support counselor at the FRC. “The people here do their best to cater to the needs of each individual. It is a place where parents and children can truly feel welcome.”

Drawing on “our strength”

Joy Lok—a name chosen by parents that means “happy gathering” in Chinese—was started by Wu Yee Children’s Services in 2003 and provides an array of family support services. The resource and referral agency drew on “our strength as an agency with a reputation to start a center (to) support families and connect (them) with community resources,” says Teng.

“( San Francisco’s) Chinatown is such a central place for Chinese-speaking families,” he adds. “They come here to shop, to find child care. A lot of parents come through our center—once they get in the door, we introduce them to our family support services.” The FRC also recruits parents by word of mouth and by participating in the many community street fairs.

The most challenging part, says Teng, was finding space to house the FRC, but grants from a variety of funders allowed Wu Yee to renovate one of its own buildings for the program. Ongoing support for Joy Lok’s programs and its staff of three also comes from First 5—so the FRC can only serve families of children under five. When children get older, families are referred to other organizations.

Help for a grieving mother

Liu Cai Ling found herself a single parent of three children after her husband passed away last year. In addition to dealing with her grief, she worried about how she would take care of her children alone. After a relative introduced her to Joy Lok, she began counseling services with Teng.

“I went to counseling weekly to learn how to cope with my problem,” she recalls. “Through (Joy Lok), I met new friends and realized I still had people who cared for me, and that there was still hope in my life. I am very grateful for the counselors who went beyond their job to help me outside of working hours. My children really love it here too. They are the ones who remind me when it is time to go again. We have all become a lot happier,” says Ling, now an active Joy Lok participant.

Support for the whole family

Joy Lok offers an array of family support and parent education services, including:

• Weekly parent support meetings provide caregivers with a place to discuss child development and personal issues, such as ways to encourage children to read, how to find jobs, or how to get health information and resources. Meetings provide a place for parents to share experiences in raising their children, let out their feelings, and cope with problems.

• Workshops for parents provide education on “hot topics” such as “how to be a five star dad” and how to communicate better with children, as well as presentations on community resources such as housing and tax credits. Joy Lok provides dinner and child care for families during the workshops.

Joy Lok also offers a five-session series of parenting skills workshops. Parents who complete the series receive a diploma and reading materials. “I learned a lot through the series,” says Che.

• Individual counseling sessions let parents talk with Joy Lok counselors about family issues—and get help applying for food stamps and low-income housing.

• Programs for children include a weekly literacy play group, where children ages three to five listen to stories, and time for parents to bond with their infants.

• Field trips and holiday celebrations, such as a Mother’s Day picnic and Father’s Day kite-flying event, provide ways for parents to spend time with their children and other families. “The Mother’s Day event was held at the park and gifts were given to all of the mothers there. We all had a really good time,” says Ling.

• Drop-in services include a parent lounge, a community play room for young children, a clothing bank where parents can get free children’s clothes, and a lending library with children’s toys and books as well as parenting books.

“Including the parent’s perspective”

At Joy Lok, Che doesn’t just receive services. She also takes an active role in helping to shape the program by participating in Joy Lok’s Parent Advisory Committee—ten active parents who meet monthly. “The committee makes sure that programs effectively (meet) parents’ and children’s needs by including the parent’s perspective,” says Che.

Participants, along with staff, make recommendations and vote on workshop topics, times, and locations. Parents can also bring up problems they have with the programs, such as concerns that a workshop won’t be interesting or is offered at a time that parents can’t attend.

Next steps

Joy Lok recently opened their newly remodeled center, including space for donated computers that will be used for computer literacy classes. Joy Lok is also trying to get more men involved with the program, and in their children’s lives.

“After joining Joy Lok, I have become a more knowledgeable and confident person, and in turn, my relationship with my children has greatly improved. I am very thankful that I had (Joy Lok) to guide me,” says Che.

• Joy Lok Family Resource Center, 415-391-4890

Extra resources from the Children’s Advocate bulletin

• Building Culturally and Linguistically Competent Services to Support Young Children, Their Families, and School Readiness provides guidance, tools and resources to assist communities in building culturally and linguistically competent services, supports, programs, and practices related to young children and their families. Online at http://www.aecf.org/upload/
  PublicationFiles/HS3622H325.pdf

• Family Support: Fostering Leadership and Partnerships to Improve Access, from the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, provides an overview of family support and how services are funded, as well as strategies for strengthening family support at the state level. Online at http://www.healthychild.ucla.edu/
  Publications/NationalCenterPubs.asp

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