Shaqaalaha

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I'm from the Congo and I used to come to The Family Room to get bread. One day I decided to volunteer at the father room and that's when I fell in love with the organization. Now that I am working here, I feel like I find myself in a place where I belong.

I started volunteering at the Family Room in 2018 when I first moved back to Vermont and joined the staff in 2020! I love how the Family Room supports all families exactly where they are at. Everyone is included and welcomed as soon as they walk through the door. As a trained Postpartum Doula, Childbirth and Lactation Educator I am excited to support families who are expecting or have new little babies. My focus is always on finding ways to cultivate a calm nervous system and feel connected and confident as parents to our little humans.

Hajiya Nuria been with the Family Room for over a decade in a number of roles, starting with her experience as a parent attending Family Room Programs, to volunteering time with AmeriCorps and work in the Preschool classroom. She was hired in 2021 and brings wisdom, peaceful and friendly attitude, and community connections to the Family Room.

In 2014, I was hired as the Fatherhood Employment Specialist and have enjoyed being involved in all of our other programs. When we became an independent organization in July of 2017, I was hired as the Executive Director.
It has been a challenge and a great honor to lead this organization, be in such a great community and continue the legacy of Janet Munt. The Family Room is home to many and is truly a village where everyone is welcome and supported.

Maryann works n the New American Health Clinic as a Family Strengthening worker. She has been a part of the Family Room Community for over a decade and brings a wide range of health and family wellness skills to our community.

I came to the Family Room 28 years ago. I believe in the work of the Family Room and Non -Profits, because of what it did for me and what it has done for so many others.
My hero is a fellow Family Room former employee, Nellie Ishee. Nellie always believed in me even when I didn’t.

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In the spring 2018 I was hired to the preschool team and later expanded to home visits, family play, and parent education. However my history with the family room started much earlier; I came to the Family Room back in 2007 as a mom, newly moved to town with a year old baby. Coming from Seoul, Korea, I love that I can work in a place with people from all over the world.

I joined the Family Room in 2021 as a member of the Healthy Families From the Start team. I have a background in reproductive and maternal health. I do home visiting and help run programs at the Family Room. I am passionate about supporting parents as they navigate the profound transformation of becoming a new parent or welcoming another child into their life.

This year marks my 11th year at the Family Room! I am honored to be part of this special community.
As program manager, I am involved in a little bit of everything. I love sharing nature, art, stories, humor, languages and humanity with the children and families I meet.

I am humbled and deeply grateful to have joined The Family Room in 2022 as our very first Director of Development. Every day, I find inspiration from our talented, passionate, and creative program staff. I feel like I have "come home"! I believe that my most important responsibility as a fundraiser is to foster deep, long-term relationships with funders and donors, and to support strategic partnerships that both support our work and enable donors to fulfill their philanthropic goals in ways that feel right to them.

I came to The Family Room as a parent with my baby daughter 4 years ago. After that I volunteered here through AmeriCorps, and now I work here part-time. I love The Family Room. My little child meets a lot of other people from a lot of different races and cultures. Then she is not afraid when she is in a group with different people. When she goes to school soon, she will know how to get along with lots of other kids.

Sarah has been with the Family Room since its earliest days. She welcomes families and visitors, is a strong advocate, and an amazing garden organizer. She helps connect families to each other, and bridges people and organizations in our community.

I started working at the Family Room in 2023. I've always heard great things about the family room and I see why everyday. There is a relentless energy in this building when it comes to helping people, and I appreciate that. I get to work with a great group of people who come here everyday to make our community a better place. I think serving our community is really important and I am glad the Family Room put me in a position to do so.

I joined the staff of the Family Room to increase my knowledge of family support and broaden my
understanding of our community’s diversity. Having been a father for only 8 years means I have as much
to learn about supporting families as I have to learn about raising children. The Family Room offers me
the opportunity to sharpen my fathering skills while meeting and sharing with the many members and
families in the community.

I started at the Family Room in the Fall of 2022. I feel so blessed to be in community with young children and their families at The Family Room. I am a preschool teacher by training and I teach preschool and work in playgroups at The Family Room. A big focus in my work with children is talking about racism, using school as a place to practice democracy and freedom, and doing conflict resolution and repair work.

I started at the Family Room as a volunteer. I had been very depressed and my Reach Up worker told me to get out and volunteer. They sent me to the Family Room and I fell in love with the families and the staff, so much so that I begged for a job. I was hired! My role at the family room is Kitchen support ( or as the pre schoolers named me “the Fooder”).

I work in the New American Health Clinic as a Family Strengthening Worker, and has been a preschool teacher since 2013. I use positive, strength based observations of children and families enhance our work and serve as a strong foundation for helping bridge community connections.

I have been with the Family Room since February 2019. I started helping with data collection, and am now doing Administrative tasks. I am so excited to be a small part of the wonderful work everyone does here at the Family Room. My hero is anyone fighting for the planet.

I am very happy to join the Family Room as HR Coordinator. I am excited to work with the team that supports the community. I was born and raised in Korea and moved to Vermont in 2002. Before, I thought Vermont was too cold for me but now I can't imagine a winter without snow. In my free time I enjoy hiking, gardening, crocheting, quilting and spending time with my family.