4 | Health Matters: Providence St. Mary Medical Center
Parenting
with
Purpose
This Providence
St. Mary program
offers meaningful
help and support,
and it's all free.
W
e are often reminded that
parenting is hard and
does not come with an
instruction manual. While that's
certainly true, High Desert residents
do have access to a parenting class
that can help them navigate the
many challenges that come with
raising children.
The free class is offered through
a program at Providence St. Mary
Medical Center called Bridges for
Families. Two community service
coordinators, Marcela Rede and
Sandra Flores, teach the parenting
sessions, which run once a week
for 16 weeks. The classes are open
to any guardian, including parents,
stepparents, grandparents and
foster parents.
According to Marcela, "Most people
haven't been taught how to parent.
They often know what they don't
want to do—like repeat the mistakes
of their parents—but they don't know
what to replace those ideas with."
Marcela stresses that if a parent
does not understand how to manage
their own feelings and behaviors,
