Friends, 

What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been with the rebranding of the podcast. If you haven’t yet listened to the past two weeks of the rebrand story, check it out! 

I want to start with a story about the importance of connection to underscore how this work transforms how we look at people and their relationships. This past week, I was training about 90 minutes from my hometown, working with an incredible group of early educators. Their entire organization attended to learn about wellness and ways to build resilience and a path moving forward. As we discussed overwhelm and what professionals who work with kids have been through of late, a participant broke down. She shared with her team that she was feeling lonely and isolated and needed help, desperately. Then, something magical happened. The entire team wrapped around her and made sure she felt connected, supported, loved and received resources to deal with her crisis so she felt less alone. They created circles of support for her. 

In this week’s podcast, we talk about the Circles of Support© and creating villages. I encourage all of you to take inventory of the connections in your life and in the lives of the children and families with whom you work. 

Print this out so you can follow along in this week’s podcast:

I want to invite all of you who are ConnectEd Champions to build out Circles of Support© for the children and families you support. It’s the MOST important medicine – creating connection. Why? Because relational health determines long term health – physical and mental health!

Research tells us that it just takes one safe, stable nurturing adult in the life of a child to completely change their trajectory. It literally, creates new neuropathways for healing and recovery! In fact, people with positive connections in their lives are less likely to have mental health issues and other chronic health conditions. It’s that important. 

So, start asking about circles of support early and often – you never know how asking might make a difference. Like the woman in my training this past week. It matters. YOU matter! 

Why do I share these stories of inspiration? Because I think in the daily implementation of your practice, classroom, visits – where ever you do your work, we forget the powerful impact we can have and when we share stories of what’s going well and right, we foster connection.

Until next time friend, keep fostering those connections!