Family Expo at Project Self-Sufficiency

Parents and their children are invited to a free Family Expo hosted by the Sussex County Family Success Center at Project Self-Sufficiency on Thursday, April 30th, from 4:30 – 7:30 p.m. The event will feature information about health and wellness, fire safety, parenting tips, and first aid. Keynote speakers will address media literacy, raising healthy children, and the detection and prevention of child sexual abuse. Participants will be treated to dinner and goodie bags filled with parenting resources. The Family Expo is free and open to families from Sussex and northern Warren Counties, but space is limited and registration is required.

Family Success Center staff members will offer a presentation about the Enough Abuse program, a community-wide education effort which aims to mobilize adults and communities to prevent child sexual assault by increasing awareness of the warning signs displayed by predators and as well as victims. Dr. Eric Loewrigkeit, of Sparta Chiropractic and Wellness Center, will conduct a workshop, “Growing Healthy Children,” which will address methods for boosting children’s immune system and maintaining childhood health. The topic of media literacy will be addressed by Gwen Federico, Associate Director of Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services (DASI).

In addition to Project Self-Sufficiency, organizations who will host information tables at the event include Children’s Mobile Response; DAWN Center for Independent Living; Division of Child Protection & Permanency; Family Intervention Services; Family Partners of Morris and Sussex Counties; Ginnie’s House; Legal Services of Northwest New Jersey; National Alliance of Mental Illness of New Jersey (NAMI); NJ SNAP-Ed; NORWESCAP Head Start; Partnership for Maternal & Child Health of Northern New Jersey; Sussex County Community College; Sussex County Special Child Health Services; Sussex Warren Chronic Disease Coalition; and others.

“The Family Expo gives parents the opportunity to interact with experts in a variety of fields, and to ask questions and get information about issues faced by their families,” explains Deborah Berry-Toon, Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency. “We are grateful for the participation by the health organizations, social service agencies and public safety officials in our community, and we are looking forward to a wonderful and informative evening.”

The Sussex County Family Success Center at Project Self-Sufficiency is part of a network of Family Success Centers across the state whose purpose is to strengthen families and neighborhoods; develop networks of family services that foster healthy families; and to build connections within families, between families and to the community. The Family Success Center provides a wide range of services to participating families, including assistance with healthcare, substance abuse prevention services, career planning, job training, parenting workshops, and life skills training.

Participation in the Family Expo is free and open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required for attendance. To register for the Family Expo, or for more information about the programs and services available at Project Self-Sufficiency, call 973-940-3500.