STATEN ISLAND N.Y. — More than a dozen caregivers attended a day-long workshop at The New York Foundling on Friday, receiving training in child CPR, disaster preparedness and child development.
The New York Foundling is a nonprofit organization that provides support services to vulnerable children, families and adults in New York City.
Senior Vice President Reina Batrony, who leads the community-based and education development program department at The New York Foundling, said programs like this are part of the organization’s intervention initiatives to support the community.
“We uplift the community with community-led work,” Batrony said. She said The Foundling offers programming ranging from tutoring to housing support.
“We use an evidence-based model, and provide over 40 types of intervention to support families,” she said.
Batrony said about 15 families attended, many bringing their children. In the children’s room, she said kids were taught to use arts and crafts as a means to self-regulate.
Red Cross representative Sean McNerney led about a dozen attendees through disaster preparedness training, encouraging participants to create emergency plans that account for neighbors and household members. He covered what to pack in a “go bag” and suggested allowing children to pack their own small emergency bag.
“It can be fun for them, maybe they pack their stuffed animal,” McNerney said.
McNerney taught hands-only CPR for infants, children and adults, with a Red Cross translator providing Spanish interpretation for some attendees. He recommended the Red Cross Emergency App and the organization’s free smoke alarm installation service.
Dailisha Eve Rodriguez, executive director of Hey There Beautiful Foundation, presented on safe play. Rodriguez, who founded the organization in 2015, emphasized that children’s safety extends beyond physical protection.
“Safe play is about emotional safety, psychological safety, relational safety,” Rodriguez said. “A child that is dismissed or ridiculed doesn’t feel safe.”
A safe brain is an open brain, she told the group.
Rodriguez led an interactive session where participants shared experiences and acted out scenarios involving parent-child connections.
She repeated a mantra throughout: “It’s okay. It takes a village.” Rodriguez said mistakes often happen when parents are burned out and need more help.
Children have limited means of communication, she said, “so connection is what matters.”
She closed her session with three takeaways: It’s okay to struggle, you have what you need, and give yourself grace.
“Most of us were raised by hundreds of people,” she said, citing relatives, teachers, and even hospital staff in the delivery room. “It takes all of us.”
The workshop continued with sessions on sensory development for neurodiverse families and a two-hour workshop on gentle parenting strategies.
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