Welcome to Phyllis Wheatley Community Center
HOPE
RESTORATIVE PROGRAMS
These programs help to strengthen, empower, and reunite families caught in the justice system. Our HOPE programs work to divert intimate partner violence and provide support to victims, while the Quality Parenting Academy teaches parents important skills and helps them regain custody of their children after interventions by CPS, and the Be@School program helps get truant youth back on track and in the classroom.
To make sure we're able to help all who need these services, PWCC removes barriers to attendance in the family programs by providing transportation and childcare during group sessions, as well as referral services to help address any other needs families face.
For county referrals: Please click the button below to send your referrals to Courtney, the HOPE Programs' Admin. Please be sure to include the name of the individual you're referring, any contact info for the client as well as yourself, and the client's level of offense.
Phyllis Wheatley Community Center's HOPE (Helping Our People Evolve) programs exist to give people a second chance and to build skills that create stronger families. These programs are open to individuals referred to us by Hennepin County and are aimed at teaching those involved in the legal system change course, learn alternatives to conflict, and find happier, more fulfilling ways to live.
No childcare? We've got you covered.
We understand that our clients often lack the resources and support they need to successfully complete this program. One of the most common barriers is a lack of childcare. For this reason, we reserve 10
full-time spaces in our Mary T. Wellcome Child Development Center. There, kids spend weekdays learning the important early childhood skills that will prepare them for success in school and in life. We also ensure that staff are available to take care of children while parents attend groups.
We know that rebuilding and restoring balance after trauma is a difficult process, and Phyllis Wheatley Community Center is here to help.
H.O.P.E. stands for Helping Our People Evolve. These are our restorative programs, which are designed to meet people where they are on their journey to restoration and help them along the way.
For families enrolled in our Quality Parenting Academy, we also reserve full-time spaces for children under 5 in our Mary T. Wellcome Child Development Center, where they access important, valuable early childhood education.
For Referrals or further information about the restorative programs, please contact us at Info@PhyllisWheatley.org
The HOPE for Men program works to empower men to find healthy ways to advocate for themselves by teaching conflict resolution and stress management skills. Using an evidence-based, proven-effective methodology, support group participants develop strong foundations and create support systems to help them meet life’s challenges. Through our anger management and domestic violence programs, PWCC is helping to make our neighborhood homes safer, stronger, and better equipped to move toward stability and peace.
Anger Management for Women is an educational skill-building and support group staffed by trauma-informed professionals. Emphasizing empowerment, the program is designed to help women understand external and internal anger triggers that result in aggression, rage, and self-sabotage. HOPE for Women utilizes an evidence-based approach to emotion regulation and impulse control, awareness of cognitive distortions, social perceptions, and biases, and teaches effective communication and problem-solving skills. By the end of the course, participants are equipped with an individualized anger control plan and ongoing support from staff.
The Helping Our People Evolve (HOPE) Youth program is a trauma informed youth diversion program in partnership with Hennepin County designed to give children positive, life-affirming alternatives to some of the choices they make, often resulting in complications in juvenile justice system. Youth meet weekly and engage in group intervention activities based on positive enforcement.
Our referrals come directly to us from Headway Emotional Health Services.
It's hard not to give up when mistakes have major consequences and hopelessness takes over. For families who have been separated when the legal system was forced to become involved, it can seem impossible for many parents to make the right choices in order to be reunited with their children.
Our Quality Parenting Academy staff understand the pain and guilt that come along with a legal intervention in families, and help parents whose families are caught in the child protection service system learn the skills they need to create stronger foundations and safer homes, giving them a second chance and helping to reunite them with their children, armed with the tools they need to give their kids the care and nurturing they require to grow into healthy, strong adults.
The Quality Parenting Academy: Empowering All Parents With New Resources
Quality Parenting Academy has expanded this year, thanks to a generous gift to support a two-year plan that opens the program to parents not referred by Hennepin County. This may be those who have a CPS case pending and need to make some changes to avoid family separation, or to anyone who feels they can benefit from a supportive, self-affirming program where they can gain new skills and feel empowered as parents.
The course curriculum can —
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Improve parental empowerment.
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Increase positive parent practices.Foster healthy social connections.
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Improve the child's behavior.
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Improve parents' and children's wellbeing and mental health.
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Decrease the use of severe punishment and child abuse.
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Create a family routine.
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Build a relationship with your child that is age- and developmentally-conscious for the best growth outcomes.
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Increase and or develop trust within your family through activities that support relationships.
Interested in becoming one of Phyllis Wheatley's Quality Parents? Please reach out to Kimberly Caprini, Director of the Quality Parenting Academy, at KimberlyC@phylliswheatley.org.
Be@School
Our Be@School program works with children and families to maximize opportunities for academic success through reduction of truancy and assistance for parents as they learn to make informed decisions about their child's education.
Participants are youth whose absence from school has caused Hennepin County to intervene. They're youth, most under the age of 14, who need someone to work with them and their parents and families, listen and come to understand the barriers that prevent them from regular attendance, and offer solutions, structure, and the support they need to get back on track and back at school, diverting them from the potentially drastic consequences of ongoing truancy.