Thank you for supporting generational healing in Minneapolis this year. Whether you participated in programs or donated, whether you volunteered or advocated, you are helping this generation to heal so the next generation thrives. 

As Bayo Akomolafe writes, “The times are urgent: let’s slow down.” We hope this seasonal care package invites you to slow down and find moments of connection and purpose amidst the busyness of the season.

Together, we can nurture healing and hope for ourselves and future generations.

Strong Families

As part of our 2gen approach, we believe strong families form the foundation of strong communities—advancing generational healing at household and community levels.

---

---

Vital Communities

Our 146-year legacy of generational healing in Minneapolis includes building partnerships that build community resources and strength.

Better Futures for Children

Strong families and vital communities support a world in which all children, regardless of income or origin, have the opportunity to thrive.

• Belly breathe together with Elmo from Sesame Street, Common, and Colbie Caillat
• Set New Years resolutions for family wellbeing using this guide from Gottman Institute
• Volunteer as a family with The Family Partnership or another organization
• Advocate for affordable childcare in Minnesota using this guide from Think Small

---

The Family Partnership offers play-based therapy for children, including outpatient services at our North Minneapolis and South Minneapolis locations. Play-based therapy is also available for children who attend our preschools, Four Directions and North Minneapolis Preschool, and several local PICA/Head Start locations.

What is play-based therapy?

According to Emily Geffre, Senior Director of Outpatient and Developmental Therapies, “play-based therapy provides an environment where children can explore their thoughts and emotions.” At The Family Partnership, “children get help from our therapists in special therapy rooms and in their classrooms. To a child, therapy feels just like play. But we know play is how young children explore their worlds and express themselves.  This makes it a powerful tool for healing in children: it helps them to thrive and learn emotionally, physically, and socially. 

There are three typical goal areas for children in play-based therapy: 

• Emotional Expression:  learn to be able to identify, experience and express a variety of emotions (sad, mad, happy, frustrated, disappointed, excited) 
• Physical Regulation:  learn ways to cope with difficult emotions and maintain regulation (breathing, positive self-talk, increasing frustration tolerance) 
• Social Interactions:  learn how to communicate appropriately and effectively with others (using appropriate language, compromising, following directions) 

---

---

Why Play-Based Therapy Works for Young Children—and Why It’s Critical for Racial Equity 

Children often lack the words to explain their feelings, especially if they’ve faced trauma or stress. This is particularly important for children of color, who experience higher rates of discipline in schools compared to their white peers—even when their behavior is similar. This discipline gap leads to missed opportunities, including learning essential skills for kindergarten, developing positive social relationships, and interacting with supportive adult role models. 

When children of color are disproportionately disciplined, it can reinforce feelings of instability and exclusion. By contrast, play-based therapy offers an opportunity for children to express their feelings, heal from trauma, and improve behaviors—all while receiving positive support. In fact, young children in play-based therapy often show improved classroom behaviors, making them more likely to succeed both academically and socially. 

Children’s behavior often has a meaning behind it, and by providing play therapy this allows the meaning behind their behavior to come out. Play-based therapy helps children process feelings of stress and instability, creating space for them to ask for help, express worries, or simply say they need a hug. With the right tools and support, children in play therapy can build the emotional resources they need to succeed. 

Early Interventions Support Better Outcomes 

Early childhood is a time of rapid brain development. From birth through age five, a child’s brain is building the foundation for emotional, social, and cognitive development that continues into adulthood. Early interventions, such as play therapy, provide crucial opportunities for young children who benefit from the extra support. 

Play therapy equips children with tools to manage difficult emotions and behaviors, leading to better outcomes in the classroom and beyond. By intervening early, we can help children shift their thinking from “my world isn’t safe” to “it wasn’t stable before, but now it is,” as Geffre explains. 

---

---

Children learn how to express their feelings, ask for help, and communicate their needs. This early intervention leads to better long-term emotional health, improved relationships, and greater resilience in handling future challenges. By supporting children early, we prevent long-term impacts from missed developmental opportunities and set children up for success in school and life.

Supporting Families for Success Across Generations 

At The Family Partnership, play-based therapy is part of our 2gen approach to support whole-family success. By engaging with caregivers, our therapists learn the unique strengths and challenges of each family. With or without trauma, Geffre says, “it’s tough when a child is acting out and it’s especially hard when one child struggles while other siblings seem fine.” Play-based therapy helps caregivers understand that their child isn’t “bad.” Instead, they’re having a hard time and need support to figure out how to move past it.  

“When you have a kid who keeps acting out, dysregulated, hitting other kids, it can wear on parents,” Geffre explains. Our therapists “help parents know that it’s not that they’re a bad person or that their kid is a bad kid…they haven’t yet figured out how to integrate their experiences, and we’re going to figure out ways to help them.”

---

---

Therapists at The Family Partnership work closely with caregivers to ensure they have the tools to support their children. Caregivers learn strategies to support long-term changes in their child’s behavior, ensuring that progress made in therapy is reinforced at home. Therapists also help families develop strategies they can use at home to reinforce what their child is learning in therapy. 

Our therapists engage parents or caregivers by helping them understand their child’s behavior. When caregivers feel overwhelmed, therapists may offer referrals for family therapy, support groups, or services to meet basic needs. This holistic approach helps both children and parents feel more secure. 

“We want parents to know, you are the expert on your child,” says Geffre. “Every child and every family is different, and we’re here to work with you to create a plan that helps your child succeed.” 

Making Play Therapy Accessible and Inclusive 

Preschool is a pivotal time for setting children on the path to success, especially for children of color who face opportunity gaps that begin before kindergarten. Play-based therapy is not only about addressing individual needs but also about ensuring that all children have equitable access to support that fosters their emotional and social development.

To reduce barriers to therapy, The Family Partnership brings services directly into our preschool classrooms. On-site therapy reduces the burden on families who may be struggling with financial or life stressors, and it ensures that children can access therapy faster. Our diverse team of therapists work closely with families to learn what is important to them, respecting family cultural values and incorporating them into the child’s treatment plan. 

---

---

Geffre wants parents and caregivers to know that they can expect to find support and understanding with our therapists. “Some parents go into situations where they feel very judged, or they’re worried they are going to be judged,” explains Geffre. “The reality is, we do this work all the time. These kids are not surprising to us. In my experience, I’ve seen kids who are acting out the most are the most in need of help, and the change you see is that much greater.” By working in partnership with families, The Family Partnership helps children build the foundation for successful and healthy futures. 

Interested in Play-Based Therapy at The Family Partnership? 

Play-based therapy is a powerful tool for helping children heal from trauma, regulate emotions, and develop strong social skills. By offering therapy in a familiar environment like the classroom and involving families in the process, The Family Partnership meets children and parents where they’re at and supports them on their healing journeys.

Typically, we offer play-based therapy services from birth through elementary school—but older children have benefitted from play therapy as well. If your child needs support for emotional and behavioral challenges, play therapy might be the key to helping them thrive. To learn more about play therapy, contact: 

Outpatient services: 

English: 612-728-2061 
HMOOB: 763-569-2625  
info@thefamilypartnership.org 

Preschools and PICA/Head Start: 

Connect teachers or staff at your school. 

On May 8, The Family Partnership welcomed guests, staff, and volunteers to our 2024 Better Together fundraising luncheon. Dianne Haulcy, President and CEO, spoke to the healing power of relationships in The Family Partnership’s work. The event also featured inspiring stories from Ms. Linda Wilson, foster mother, and Ae Vang, outpatient therapist, who have partnered together in support of children’s healing.

We invite you to experience some of the best moments from this year’s program below!

Dianne Haulcy, President and CEO, highlights the “tremendous outcomes” achieved as a result of trusting relationships between families and staff.

As a result, together we have achieved tremendous outcomes:

• 100% of children in our preschool programs graduated kindergarten ready, nearly double the statewide average for children living in low-income households;
• 89% of youth in mental health counseling reported stronger family relationships; think about how stronger family relationships can help teens navigate those turbulent years; and lastly,
• 93% of participants in our anti-sex trafficking program, PRIDE, decreased involvement in the commercial sex industry.

Our staff leverage a 2-generation approach and evidence-based practices in the context of trusting relationships. That means we meet people where they are at and we honor their strengths, even as we bring our expertise. When people TFP serves feel seen and their strengths are honored, you’d be amazed how they find a way where there was seemingly no way before. They break through barriers and create new legacies for themselves and their children.”

Ms. Linda Wilson, foster mother, shares how children in her care experience healing at The Family Partnership.

Ms. Linda Wilson has been a foster mother for over 32 years through Hennepin County, serving “more children than she can count.” Over the past twenty years, Ms. Linda has brought many of her children to The Family Partnership for mental health therapy.

---

---

Any child who has been taken from their home environment no matter how awful that environment may have been has experienced trauma. Whether from the actions of the home, family or situations or from the actual process and effects of the removal, they have gone through a traumatic experience.

When I first found The Family Partnership about 20 years ago, I knew I’d found a place for my children to experience healing through therapy. Many of my children have benefited tremendously from their time sorting out their emotions and life struggles with support from a therapist. Healing in therapy takes time but within a few months I would notice some positive changes in each of the children. Some changes happened slower than others, but change did happen.

Once, I remember a child who moved around like the tin man from Wizard of Oz, extremely tensed and rigid, totally stand offish and guarded. With support through mental health therapy at The Family Partnership, he slowly started to put down his walls and became more receptive to warm friendly conversations, smiles and interactions with people whom he came in contact with.

I am thankful for therapists like Ms. Ae (Dr. Ae as the kids and I call her) who have helped my children to heal from their heart and head hurts!”

Ae Vang, Outpatient Therapist, describes the way a 2gen approach builds on family strengths and leads to healing.

---

---

If that system is not stable, their healing process takes longer or in some cases it never starts because parents pull their kids from therapy. Without addressing stressors that parents face, therapy can become just another stressor. However, by utilizing a 2-generation approach, it allows conversations to take place that will not only help the child but the whole family heal.

One preteen client that I worked with had a disability due to illness. They spent a lot of time in isolation, appearing irritable, expressing suicidal ideation, and when asked to draw a self-portrait could only portray themself as a ghost or monster.

At first, I worked with just my client and their mom, but as I got to know the family better it became clear that Dad held the key to my client’s healing. Dad believed himself to be responsible for their disability, even though he made the best-informed decisions he could at the time. This had become his child’s whole identity to him—they were a reminder of his shame.

As I started working with both Mom and Dad on their grief, eventually Dad was able to change the narrative surrounding his family and be the support my client needed to overcome their struggles. Eventually my client graduated from therapy and started high school. Recently I received an update that they made a friend at school, something their parents did not think would happen because they had been a loner since starting kindergarten.

The Family Partnership’s 2gen approach affirms that all families have strengths, and my role as a therapist is to partner with families to build on those strengths.

I am happy to say that by practicing a two-generation approach in my work at The Family Partnership, I am working as a partner with parents towards the goal that nearly all share in bringing their children to therapy: to create a better future for them, and the generations to come.”

Dianne Haulcy announces The Family Partnership is prioritizing early interventions to preserve families and protect children from the trauma of separation.

Dianne Haulcy announces that The Family Partnership is exploring the possibility of becoming a Family Resource Center in South Minneapolis.

---

---

Current research shows that toxic stressors like poverty, racism, and other forms of systemic injustice harm a pregnant parent and their baby’s developing brain and nervous system. The earlier we partner with parents and caregivers, the better for their children’s opportunities and outcomes.

As such, we’re exploring the possibility of becoming a designated Family Resource Center in South Minneapolis. This will allow TFP to provide additional services and resources beginning as early as pregnancy and birth that are proven to preserve families and protect children against the trauma of separation.

It’s true that most of the parents and caregivers we serve experience toxic stress, and many have also experienced trauma as children themselves. They want to disrupt the cycle—but they need some support to learn how. After all, “You can’t give what you never got.”

For most people, healing work is too heavy a burden to bear alone. No one should be expected to transmute their own pain, and the pain of their families, communities, and ancestors without support. Our work at The Family Partnership is to meet people where they’re at and honor their strengths—so they can face the past with courage and build toward a future with hope.

Valerie Kaur, in her book See No Stranger, talks about developing a revolutionary type of love that is not a culmination of emotions and romanticism but of “sweet labor,” something we choose to do every day. That is the kind of work all of us at The Family Partnership do, bringing people closer together to do the important work of healing.

Your support helps this generation to heal, so the next generation thrives.

Our partnerships make us strong. Consider a new or increased monthly gift in any amount, and your donation will be DOUBLED up to $50,000 until the end of May!

You can also check out our volunteer opportunities, donate your gently used clothes to our drop-in center, or fulfill items from our PRIDE wishlist on Amazon.

For more information on how to help generational healing in Minneapolis through The Family Partnership, contact Ashley Hemnarine, Development Director.