About the Working Family Resource Center

The Working Family Resource Center provides parents with education and support to help them manage the competing demands of work and family resulting in healthy families and communities where they can thrive. Working Family Resource Center presents classes on parenting and on broader topics that impact families, such as money management and elder care. We are based in St. Paul and offer services throughout Minnesota.

Working Family Resource Center classes fit into the busy lives of today’s working families. We know that convenience is key to reaching working parents. That has been our driving force since 1985, when the center was created as a program of the St. Paul Public Schools. Back then we offered classes at our downtown office to moms over lunch. After becoming a separate non-profit organization in 2007, we now bring our parent education to worksites across Minnesota, and on-line, so anyone can access them anywhere, at any time. Our classes reach many low and moderate income families who would otherwise fall through the cracks because they have no other access to parent and work/life education. In 2010, the Working Family Resource Center reached:

• 700 working families who struggle to raise their children on less than $55,000 a year.
• 450 working families who live in small towns where services are scarce.
• 25,000 individuals and families throughout Minnesota and the United States.

Helping a Son Transition from an Abusive Home to his New, Adoptive Family

Liz, a single mother of one, was a foster parent waiting to adopt her second child, three-year-old Jack. Jack came from a pretty traumatic home setting where discipline was a belt across his back. He was also an only child and had difficulty sharing with his new older sister, Emma.

Jack would cry and have a fit. Sharing was a big issue. When I disciplined him he would say, “I’m a naughty boy” and hide in a corner. He would almost cover his head with his hand like he was protecting himself. He was hiding under the little time out chair.” I had to explain to him “This is the timeout chair. This is why you’re there, you’ll sit here this amount of time.” Consistency is a big piece of it.

[Working Family Resource Center] classes helped me recognize those behaviors, deal with them, and stay compassionate at the same time. Jack came a long way in a short amount of time. Now he doesn’t do any of [those behaviors]. He is totally different.

Make a Contribution to the Working Family Resource Center

Please help Working Family Resource Center provide family education to all of Minnesota’s working parents. Make a gift to the Working Family Resource Center today. And don’t forget to visit our website and sign up for free on-line classes to help you with your own parenting and work-life concerns. Thanks!