The “Story of the System” Gets Told Thanks to Thriving Families, Safer Children Grant from Prevent Child Abuse America, with funding from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation

Illuminate Colorado (Illuminate) is proud to announce that we earned a $60,000 grant through the Thriving Families, Safer Children: Primary Prevention Grant. A total of $500,000 was granted to nine community-based organizations selected for funding. 

Thriving Families, Safer Children is a first-of-its-kind effort of the U.S. Children’s Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Casey Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse America. The Thriving Families effort seeks to demonstrate that intentional, coordinated investment in a full continuum of prevention and robust community-based networks of support will promote overall child and family well-being, equity and other positive outcomes for children and families.

Illuminate, in partnership with parents and caregivers involved in the Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families Family and Caregiver Space, will tell the “Story of the System” with these funds, highlighting and documenting a process for how government agencies and nonprofits share power and codesign in partnership with experts to transform systems.

“Families are the experts when it comes to transforming systems,” said Heather Hicks, a parent and member of the Partnership Family & Caregiver Space. “We hope to share our learnings and process to promote continued efforts of codesign and partner with family voices in systems transformation efforts.  This project will catalyze primary prevention efforts through storytelling, with the aim of inspiring policy and practice change and changing the narrative around systems and families.” 

Together, we can create a world where children and families have access to the resources they need, regardless of where they live. To learn more about the “Story of the System and the Thriving Families national effort, read the complete press release at IlluminateColorado.org and subscribe to the Partnership’s blog to get updates on the Story of the System as stories get told.