What’s in Your Toolbox?

Equipping Children with Every Tool

At the Day Shelter, we often talk about toolboxes, all those things that help our gears turn. For some of our child service providers such as occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, and play therapists, these toolboxes consist of a wide range of tools for our kiddos to use for lifelong success. Whether it’s expressing emotions, developing communication skills, or ensuring their ability to perform self-care, these tools foster lifelong growth, resilience, and confidence in young learners, so they can face any challenge that might come their way.

Expanding Parent Support

As part of our Strategic Plan, we’re working to expand our parent services, ensuring parents also have every tool they need and decreasing the barriers to their access. Morgan, one of our passionate play therapists, shares, “We’re helping the kids build their toolboxes, and now it’s time to do the same for parents.” Morgan emphasizes the importance of nurturing the parent-child dynamic, equipping parents with the tools to foster healthy and supportive relationships. She has played an instrumental role in launching our Parent Pods, a program that builds on her previous work as a Social Work intern within our Family Services department.

Morgan, now works for our play therapy partner, Key Counseling, alongside fellow play therapist, Lauren. Lauren believes working with parents is a central and necessary part of play therapy, explaining, “If you’re going to work with children in a therapy space, you’re signed up to work with parents and families… It is so important that the skills that I’m working on with the child in the therapy space, that I’m going to be able to communicate those skills to parents so they can help their child grow and in turn strengthen their relationship.”

Creating a Lasting Impact Through Parent Pods

Now, Morgan and Lauren have worked together to make Parent Pods a permanent fixture in our services. These monthly sessions, which are held from 5-6 pm, are designed to be convenient and accessible for parents—offering childcare during the session and allowing parents to head home right after the meeting.

During the inaugural session in January, Morgan created an inclusive, welcoming environment by inviting participants to establish boundaries for effective sharing. She then guided parents through a reflective exercise focused on their core values as caregivers. At one point, a mom shared a personal experience, prompting another parent to respond, “I’m going through the exact same thing,” taking a step toward building the exact community that Morgan had hoped.

For Morgan, the ultimate goal of the Parent Pods is to provide a supportive space where parents can come together, build community, and gain valuable skills. After the first session, we are excited to see the program off to a wonderful start, and we look forward to continuing to support parents in strengthening their toolboxes for a brighter future.

An Extra Note

An integral part of Parent Pods is the involvement of (soon-to-be Dr.) Lindsey, an Occupational Therapist and PhD student at Georgia State. Lindsey dedicates part of each session to sharing insights on occupational therapy, helping parents better understand the resources available to support their children’s development. Learn more here!