Welcome to the second Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) Innovation Forum newsletter! Stay tuned for the latest conversations, stories and resources for advancing and promoting child wellbeing. Be sure to check your inbox at the end of the month to stay up to date. We look forward to connecting with you NOW and in the future!

In The Arena with NOW Podcast

• Episode 9: From Data to Action: Community Stories Lead to Policy Change: Learn from Children's HealthWatch on why community stories are so important for creating actionable change through policy. Hear their reflections about reframing narratives to design pathways to stable homes and expand access to Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) benefits.
• Episode 8: Residents Driving Change: The Community Solutions Grant Program: Learn from the Voices and Choices for Children coalition and their experience centering the dignity of children and their communities by unapologetically addressing implicit bias that exists in the fundamental mental models that have driven the system in which we live in.

Webinar Archive:

• Webinar: Operationalizing Equity Through Participatory Data Storytelling: View archive materials from our April 30 webinar, Operationalizing Equity through Participatory Data Storytelling. Learn from speakers who discuss why equity matters for data storytelling, share strategies for data visualization and participatory processes, and provide a virtual walk through of Vital Village’s Community Housing Data Tool and Child Wellbeing Tracker. Spanish audio and summary materials coming soon.  View archive >>

Latest Blogs

• Wellness and Working from Home, by Tiffany Rodriguez of the Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing. Tiffany’s blog provides a few tips for working from home and practicing mental health wellbeing. A special spotlight on the practices from the Vital Village team as we switched to remote work can be found in the blog. Read here >>
• Transforming Early Childhood Mental Health Stigma in the Lowcountry Region of South Carolina, By Adrienne Troy-Frazier, Executive Director of Berkeley County First Steps. Check out what it looks like and means for community connection and enriching community led discussion at a transformation table night hosted by the BEE Collective. Read here >> 

• Community Housing Data Tool, by Vital Village Network. As a part of the Village Vital Signs, the Community Housing Data Tool was developed to provide information and resources to individuals, families, and organizations interested in learning more about the state of housing in Boston communities. It was co-created with the Community Data Workgroup, a diverse team of individual residents and organizational community partners, who provide valuable direction in forming the framework and topics in the Data Tool. The tool intends to make housing information and resources accessible to Boston families, with a focus on topics that residents identified as most relevant.

• Framing COVID-19 Series, by Frameworks Institute. This series draws from guidance from twenty years of framing research and practice to help advocates and experts be heard and understood in a time of global crisis. Every few days, new insights are developed to your inbox around ideas that can help us all amplify the values of justice, inclusion, and interdependence.

• Storytelling: A Tool for Health Advocacy, by Rebecca Kahn and Jewlya Lynn, Spark Policy Institute.This brief offers guidance on the internal elements of a story that move people to action by outlining how elements can increase or decrease the ability to persuade various audiences and how health advocates can choose a story that can potentially do the most to move a particular audience.

• Boston COVID-19 Related Resources, by Vital Village Network. A data dashboard map sharing COVID-19 resources that are accessible by visiting here. The virtual resources are regularly updated and shared through the Wellness Ideas Bank, a collective effort made possible by our partners and community members. The information may change rapidly. 

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#VillageinMind

The NOW community hopes to stay connected and lift up the work and stories of all of our members. Follow and tag us on Twitter, @NOW_WellChild & @Vital_Village, so that we can virtually highlight the community led transformation you are leading.