Clinic-goers at the St. Jago Park Health Centre in Spanish Town came out in their numbers on Monday, November 27, 2023 for the second staging of the VM Foundation Financial Wellness and Parenting Expo.
The expo, an extension of the Foundation’s support for the health centre under the Adopt-a-Clinic partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, marked the culmination of VM’s Members’ and parents’ month celebrations.
Under the theme ‘Tek Charge’, the expo offered a unique platform for over 200 attendees, providing them with invaluable knowledge and resources which equipped them to take charge of their finances, take charge of their physical and mental health and take charge of their households through positive parenting practices.
CEO of the Foundation, Samantha Charles, in reflecting on the growth of the expo, also underscored the reason for an event of this nature:
“At the VM Foundation, we aim to improve quality of life. How we achieve this realistically is by engaging people in environments they feel safe and comfortable in and by bringing the experts to them. But that’s not all – once they have been introduced to key concepts through sensitization sessions and interactive knowledge sharing, capacity building workshops and reasonings, we also ensure that the right organisations and agencies are immediately accessible at various booths on location to help them accelerate their next steps, bringing them closer to their goal.”
The financial education component of the expo, which Charles was careful to note is integrated throughout 12 of the Foundation’s 13 programmes and projects, was spearheaded by VM’s well-seasoned financial services specialists and wealth advisors, and engaged parents in a number of topics including goal setting, saving for children’s education, investing and retirement planning. Sessions focused on parenting saw hearty exchanges among participants and facilitators regarding the rights and responsibilities of parents and legal guardians, child care, protection and development, children’s health and nutrition, early infant stimulation, the overall health of parents and a special session focused on the role of fathers and men in the parenting process.
Dr. Kathi-Mae Dockery, Medical Officer of Health at the St. Catherine Health Department, lauded the partnership between the Foundation and the St. Jago Park Health Centre:
“What’s clear is that both our entities are committed to ensuring that patients get the best care and even more, that the care is holistic and not just limited to the services of the clinic. Through the parenting and financial wellness sessions, both patients and staff members get an opportunity to invest in themselves and by extension, the Spanish Town community that they cherish and call home. This partnership has served us all so well.”
In a unique initiative, the expo also engaged directly with children by launching a Positive Parenting Poster Competition at primary schools in the vicinity of the St. Jago Park Health Centre. Grade 3 students got a chance to express their artistic interpretations of positive parenting with a number of them walking away with tablets and cash prizes.
VM Foundation expresses its appreciation to all partners and sponsors including: St. Jago Park Health Centre, the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), the Caribbean Male Action Network, Jamaica (CariMAN Jamaica), the National Parenting Support Commission (NPSC), Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), National Housing Trust (NHT), Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Ministry of Health and Wellness, Registrar General’s Department (RGD), National Council on Drug Abuse (NCDA), VM Group, Wisynco and National Baking Company.
