What I Learned About Early Relational Health in Durham, North Carolina

At this year’s Early Relational Health Funders Summit, we asked each speaker to share ahead of their panel discussion a story about the person for whom they do this work. Some talked about their children, like “Samaya and Moxie [who] bring the light.” Others talked about kinship and the generational imprints of strong and nurturing relationships between children and their parents and caregivers.

“I do this work for all the mamas who will feel scared at some point in their journey,” said one speaker.

“I do this work for the elders that came before me and the babies that will come after me,” said another.

For Ira, his two children and husband are at the center of his commitment to fostering emotional connection at every stage of his parenting journey and why he wants every family to have the support they need to nurture these enduring parent-child relationships.

For Chi, it’s about maintaining a familial and cultural tie between her loved ones living in Vietnam and her daughter and husband living in the U.S.

Throughout the three days together in North Carolina, our group of 100 parent leaders, funders, practitioners, and policymakers delved into some of the necessary ingredients that are responsible for strengthening early relational health: parent and community voice, maternal and infant health, doulas, early literacy, school readiness, public policy, and philanthropic support.

The Summit was designed to be a meeting ground where national and local funders can learn, collaborate, and do more together than we could alone to ensure that children, families, and communities thrive and flourish.

“The level of connection, honesty, and mutual trust and understanding created through these visits could not be matched by meetings in an office.”

— Carrie Bersak, Burke Foundation

From the Carolinas to Texas to Alaska, speakers and participants shared how early relational health shows up in communities with different cultural and historical contexts. While we may not use the same words to describe our work in early childhood, we share the same goal of providing every child and family with a great start in life, beginning with health, safety, comfort, and love.

On the Summit stage and at our site visits with Ready for School, Ready for Life and Book Harvest, we heard about the stressors that families and health care practitioners continue to face to provide quality services — ranging from the lack of resources to maintain programs to the trauma experienced by parents and children at the hands of hospital systems.

“It’s a vulnerable act to invite someone into your space.”

— Caroline Roben, Vanguard

And even amid these challenges, organizations across the country like Pediatrics Supporting Parents, Reach Out and Read, Ready for School, Ready for Life, and Book Harvest, among many others, are actively working to foster trust, agency, and belonging within the communities they serve. They are crossing many of the divides that exist in North Carolina and in our country as whole. And in doing so, they are making positive strides in supporting families in getting the care they need in the first years of life.

“Is it hard? Yes. Is it tiring? Yes. Do we still keep showing up? Yes.”

— Speaker at the Ready for School, Ready for Life site visit

With the many insights shared and connections made at the Summit, we believe that, as a community of funders, practitioners, parent leaders, and policymakers, the possibilities of what we can do to promote strong, positive, and nurturing relationships between children and parents is truly unlimited.

We want to send sincere gratitude to the Early Relational Health Funders Summit’s Host Committee members who made the gathering meaningful this year. If you are a funder interested in joining the Early Relational Health Funders Community, please reach out to Ira at ira@einhorncollaborative.org to learn more.