Richmond—The New River Valley Children’s Health Improvement Partnership (CHIP) met with delegates, senators and legislatives aides from their local districts in Richmond on Feb. 15. CHIP constituents from across Virginia gathered at the General Assembly with one simple message: CHIP changes lives, two generations at a time.
In 2016, CHIP of New River Valley provided comprehensive home visiting services to 163 low-income families with 276 children up to age 6 and pregnant women.
The CHIP team provides families with parenting education and support to help promote parental involvement and strengthen each family’s ability to move toward self-sufficiency and to provide a stable environment where children grow up healthy, safe, ready to learn and ready to succeed.
For many attendees this was their first meeting with an elected official. CHIP staff thanked the legislators for their past support and last year’s funding increase, and discussed CHIP’s work.
Not all families have the experience or support to provide basic parenting skills. CHIP works with families caught in the cycle of poverty that are committed to creating a better life for their children and themselves.
CHIP registered nurses and parent educators work hand in hand with parents, preparing them to be their children’s first and most important teacher. Since it began in Roanoke in the early 1990s, more than 38,000 babies and infants have benefited from CHIP services.
For more information contact Angie Nichols, CHIP of the New River Valley Coordinator, at 394–3255 or angie@nrcaa.org.
— Submitted by Sheila M. West