The New Neighborhood is a worksite program of the NAMC that brings effective support to working parents.

In generations past, men and women were often eased into and comforted in their roles as mothers and fathers by nearby extended families and close-knit communities and neighborhoods. Today, families are more mobile, and many more families have two working parents. Extended families may be hundreds or thousands of miles away; neighbors are often strangers. The lack of these natural supports has left a tear in our social fiber that is impacting on the capacities of our families to function optimally. Longer work weeks due to corporate downsizing come at a time when recent research in child development emphasizes that adequate, caring supervision for children of all ages is imperative. Parents are feeling the squeeze as the pressure is compounded.

Since 1975 Mothers' Centers have been providing community-based discussion groups that provide peer support and information to parents. The National Association of Mothers' Centers (NAMC), a national non-profit, has vast experience working with mothers and families in identifying and addressing the issues that most affect their lives. New parents face the unfamiliar challenges of accommodating the needs of a newborn, while parents of older children realize that the issues don't disappear, they just change as their children get older. The NAMC can bring 28 years of expertise into the work place to benefit working mothers and fathers by providing an opportunity to connect peer-to-peer, in a supportive, non-judgmental discussion environment. Participants in Mothers' Center groups have overwhelmingly reported having more confidence in themselves as parents and having an increased support system. The New Neighborhood recreates that same nurturing community for working parents, on-site.

With corporate investment in the recruitment, retention and return of employees being so high, and with the lack of support for parents from other environments, employers have begun to identify the positive effect support for parents in the workplace can have. Past participants report being more focused at work and feeling increased loyalty and gratitude to their employer for offering this unique programming.

For more information on bringing The New Neighborhood to your workplace, contact us at . Put TNN in the subject line.