ALLIANCE for CHILDHOOD
A CARING COMMUNITY OF PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS DEDICATED TO PROVIDE EASY ACCESS TO NATURAL APPROACHES AND SERVICES THAT STAND FOR:FAMILY SUPPORT SYSTEMS AND COMMUNITY BUILDING
OUR SERVICES
RESOURCE & REFERRAL SERVICES
SPEAKER'S BUREAU (WHOLE CHILD AWARENESS NETWORK)
GATHER THE MOMS ACTION PROGRAM
PARENT TO PARENT SUPPORT
FAMILY VOICES NEWSLETTER
The LAAC is a grassroots family support network.
Our special feature is our speaker's bureau, called
The WHOLE CHILD AWARENESS NETWORK (WCAN).
WCAN offers over 300 workshops to
empower parents in making conscious choices
about a wide variety of topics concerning
family life and children's health.
We advocate a multi-disciplinary approach in addressing parenting and childhood issues, by uniting members of the holistic health care community with other professionals, such as parent educators, midwives, teachers, and counselors.
OUR MISSION
To support and nurture the health and well-being of children in the greater L.A. area through empowering community programs and services, where families and professionals join to identify and address children's needs, with an emphasis on the first seven years.
OUR FUNDAMENTAL CONCERN
IS REALLY WHAT OUR CHILDREN
MOST NEED FROM US - TO BE
LOVINGLY PRESENT TO
SUPPORT AND NURTURE
THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH,
THEIR HEALTH, THEIR IMAGINATION & CREATIVITY,
THEIR LEARNING, AND THEIR INDIVIDUALITY,
SO THAT THEY CAN FIND
THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD.
OUR CHILDREN GROW UP TOO FAST,
AND TOO SOON.
Children are on OVERLOAD !!!
(and parents too!)
HOW CAN WE SLOW DOWN AND
FIND INSPIRATION TO RENEW
OUR WAYS OF EXPLORING THE
MAGICAL DIMENSIONS OF CHILDHOOD?
GET INVOLVED
If you share these concerns we invite you to
Come Forward as Future Parents, Parents,
Grand Parents, Foster Parents,
Adoptive Parents, and Professionals.
Become active participants and co-create our network!
Assist us in creating life-affirming and life-enhancing projects
to acknowledge and celebrate the fundamental
bodily, soul and spiritual needs of children.
There are many opportunities for anybody to help;
design, support and facilitate
innovative workshops and projects
for family support, healthy living,
nutrition, nurturing arts, nature exploration,
alternative education, holistic health care, childcare,
and much more…
(also visit the get involved pages)
BUILDING AWARENESS
IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
We have close to two hundred parents and professionals from various modalities and backgrounds, who are making themselves available to offer practical workshops in their communities for parents and children, community centers, schools, daycare centers and family service organizations.
To make the most of these precious resources
for your benefit, we invite you to participate by
joining our regional networking groups.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Our children are in trouble… Books with titles such as The Disappearance of Childhood, The Hurried Child, and Saving Childhood indicate how in our times the basic safety and innocence of childhood is in jeopardy. In addition we see a rapid increase of chronic illnesses, learning disorders and behavioral problems in children. We found so many parents to be deeply frustrated about the lack of time and resources they have to adequately cope with their children's challenges.
With these concerns in mind a group of parents and professionals came together in 1999 to develop the Los Angeles Alliance for Childhood (LAAC). Countless hours of volunteer time has resulted in a unique holistic Speaker's Bureau for families, giving
parents and teachers access to over 300 workshops
on raising healthy children.
This is our contribution to the parents and children in
the greater Los Angeles community.
The Los Angeles Alliance for Childhood (LAAC) is affiliated with the Alliance for Childhood. A worldwide initiative that builds partnerships of individuals and organizations committed to fostering and
respecting each child's inherent right to a healthy,
developmentally appropriate childhood.
The LAAC is a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE). SEE is a public charity as recognized by the IRS under Section 501(c)(3).
THE FOUNDER OF THE LAAC
Wiep de Vries, founder of the LAAC, is a registered nurse and health educator from the Netherlands. She trained in Family Constellation Work and has been teaching home healthcare workshops for parents and health professionals throughout Southern California since 1993.
Networking for positive change is her great passion. She calls upon families to reshape their life-styles and life-ways to maximize
the support for the growing child.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss further aspects
of our activities and programs.
Wiep de Vries, RN, Founder and Executive Director
Telephone: (626) 798-1592
Thank you very much for your time and interest !