Family

Mercer Street Friends Parenting and Adult Services brings together community, public, private and family partnerships to address the physical, financial, social/emotional, and developmental needs of families. These families have often experienced trauma due to life in poverty, childhood maltreatment, political, or personal violence. Mercer Street Friends partners with families to help increase overall parental competence, family well-being, resiliency, and self-sufficiency.

The stress experienced by families living in poverty is amplified for pregnant women, single parents, parents with special needs children, and parents who are survivors of unresolved childhood trauma. Current research emphasizes the importance of parents living in harmony with their children to develop self-regulation, focus, healthy relationships, and resilience. With a multitude of stressors affecting parents, it can be difficult for them to look out for their own best interests, as well as their children’s. Even when they acknowledge their stress, parents are often unsure of its roots, and unaware of the importance of stress management – especially regarding the legacy of stress related to their own children.