The Parenting Oasis

Six months history and a vision of the future April 6, 2008

So things are moving along smoothly at Parenting Oasis.  The rent continues to be paid on time, the room moves from occasionally too quiet and occasionally insane but mostly controlled chaos.  We offer some classes and events to great success and some require retooling.  Family massage sessions are becoming tradition for some.  The open gym time with Char during the week, and lots of daddy energy on Saturdays is motivating kids to learn to tell time the old fashioned way- “Is it 12 yet?”  Personally I am getting good at soup, and going through more flour in a week than I used to go through in a year. 

My favorite success has been Marriage 101.  I have offered this discussion twice and am set to offer it again soon as well as on-going marriage topic nights post Marriage 101.  So far, the consensus has been that finding out what to expect in marriage and how to set goals for having an amazing marriage has been fun and mostly has everyone feeling better about marriage during the lean baby intense years. 

And so we look to the future.  Our goal is to build support through grants and donations to be able to fully fund our vision of The Parenting Oasis.  We want to be open 5 days a week, including a regular evening.  We want to be able to offer therapy and support groups with child care available.  We want to offer Warmline support to parents struggling with postpartum depression, anxiety or the stress of dealing with newborn difficulties.  We plan on offering community training and outreach around postpartum support services. 

Mirage Masquerade Ball- We have a fundraiser coming up on Saturday April 26th from 4-7 pm with music, dancing, food, crafts, a silent auction and prizes for best costumes.  Tickets are $15 per family in advance- available at the Oasis or through Paypal. (parentingoasis@gmail.com) Come celebrate family with us as we build our center.

Remember- stop in any time, there is always room for more at the table.

 Maureen Campion

New Years Resolutions- a bit early December 16, 2007

So, things are going well.  Certainly better than I could have anticipated.  But…  See the plan was to have a few months to get open and build support while we worked with foundations and grants to secure the funding that we need.  With Parenting Oasis being much busier (and much louder) than it was in my imagination, I am have so much fun rocking babies, meeting new amazing women, eating fantastic food and supporting postpartum parents in the struggles of parenting but I have done very little fundraising.  We just can’t grow on selling soup alone.

 Our next goal is to begin to be open in January and in order to do that we need to pay the extra rent up front.  The goal is $200.  Following that, the church has asked us to secure liability insurance which I agree is necessary but an expense we aren’t ready for. 

We also need more volunteers.  We need help offering classes, doing childcare and hosting- especially in the afternoons for clean up duty.  And I am beginning to plan a major fundraising event for later this winter and that will require lots of hands.

My new years resolution is to have our financial growth my priorty.  So this, like most important things in life cannot be accomplished alone.  I need help. 

Make a donation of your money and your time.  Either drop by and talk to us or send us a donation through paypals.  Remember your donation is tax-deductible.  Willing to help- drop us an email parentingoasis@gmail.com 

And keep nagging me, ask me how we’re doing.  I took on this leadership opportunity and the chance to do something new and scary like raise money is what I want this year.

Maureen

The Secret Plan November 17, 2007

Well, it is our second month and all is well.  We recently added more space and the church has graciously agreed to share their gym with us as well so we are working on adding some wild kid play as well as some momma workouts.  In response to lots of requests, we have plans for a pancake breakfast on Saturday December 1st (details soon) and will be adding Saturdays in January.  We also submitted two formal grant applications this week.  Not a bad start.

 So what is the secret plan?  Behind lots of wonderful food and great conversation, the meaning of The Parenting Oasis has always been about treating and preventing postpartum depression and anxiety.  Every study I have read on postpartum depression sites social isolation as a risk factor and community support as a goal.   So if we want to decrease the rate of postpartum depression and anxiety, we need better community support.  I also have found in my work with women struggling with PPD that they almost never think they have postpartum depression, they actually usually just think they are bad moms or bad wives or bad people.  They think that their unhappiness at a time when the world believes they should be all smiles means that there is something wrong with them.

 So if you think there is something wrong with you, it makes it extrodinarily hard to reach out for support.  When you think you are selfish not to love every minute of your role as mother, you certainly aren’t going to complain about it.  You suffer alone. 

As we grow, I have dreams of the kind of support we can offer new parents.  I already realized two of these dreams when Tania stepped forward and offered to make beautiful meals for our center.  I envisioned a few muffins from Sams Club but instead, the smells of fresh baked goods and the simmer of soup on the stove great me each day.  I mentioned once in passing that having massage available with childcare would be wonderful and I got Kristin.  What a great start.  Next we have a lactation consultant coming on board- stay tuned.

I want daily postpartum drop-in support groups.  I want a full-time on-site postpartum doula.  I want a bubble bath and nap room for mommas.  I want weekly partner/family groups.  

So stay tuned, there is so much more ahead.  And join us, bring your talents, bring your tears.  Ghandi said that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

And if you think it might be postpartum depression or you think you haven’t adjusted well to parenting, please call (612-205-7050) or email me (parentingoasis@gmail.com) and check in. No matter what is going on, it is always worse when you are alone with it in your head.

Maureen

What seems to be working? October 18, 2007

Well we have three weeks of experience at Parenting Oasis so far.  When I was working on what my vision of Parenting Oasis was, I kept telling people mainly I saw it as a space.  A place where parents could hang out on a rainy day and have an adult conversation.  That seems so simple but as many of us know, it isn’t simple and when you can’t get it, it matters a lot.  I have lots of research on postpartum depression and social isolation of mothers that supports the idea that tackling isolation serves mothers and therefore serves babies.  Whether it is something as serious as postpartum depression or just the rainy day blues, I strongly believe that having a nuturing place for parents makes a difference.

I know that this is my baby, but I love being at Parenting Oasis.  I love Tania’s cooking and I love watching mothers have someone else prepare and serve them food with loving care.  I love the massages Kristin has given me but I also love watching parents return from their massage with the warm, drunken look on their face and find their little one’s playing peacefully under watchful eyes of our community.  This week it was little things like having one mom teach another mom how to teach finger knitting to kids,  having a mother get an hour of music practice time while we watched her kids, just moms sharing resources and talents. 

The next step is to bring in enough money and support to pay for some of the services we are providing and soon we would like to be able to add Saturday time so that parents working outside the home can get some time together as well.   So stop by, see what we are up to.  This week we have two great programs- a free “What’s Normal?” discussion with family therapist Paula Achenbackh and the Red Cross CPR First Aid training ($25).  And there is always room for lunch and a massage.  Consider offering a class, making a donation or volunteering your time.  There is so much more we want to do to support Twin Cities parents.

New Addition to Parenting Oasis- Massage! October 12, 2007

We are very pleased to announce that along with all the other wonderful offerings at the
Parenting Oasis, Massage Therapy will now be available! Thats right, now you can get a
lovely rubdown by our very own therapist (Kristin, Almas mom), while your kiddos are
watched over by volunteers, and afterward you can indulge in a hot cup of tea and a
homemade cookie and join in on one of the groups going on, or just relax a while in your
’second living room’. And when you are ready to go, there is no mess for you to clean up
(other than the mess of relaxed muscles youll have to drag out the door).

If this wasnt enough to draw you in, heres more. You will get to spend your time with Kristin,
which in itself is worth the price of admission. She has been a massage therapist since
2002 when she graduated from a two year program at St. Paul College. She specializes in deep tissue and trigger point manipulation, which can hurt a bit, in that ‘hurts so good’ kind of way,but is really healing and restorative. Kristin is also trained in prenatal, postnatal and infant and child massage, as well as techniques like myofacial release, lymphatic
drainage, engaged stretching, and good old fashioned Sweedish Massage.
The fee schedule is as follows
30$ for 30 minnutes
48$ for and hour
10$for a 10 minnute child massage
childcare is free and a donation will be made to the Parenting Oasis on your behalf.
Purchase of tea, yummy cookies and a hot homemade lunch, while not mandatory, is
highly encouraged!

Sessions will be available Tuesdays and wednesdays from 10 until 3.

please email Kristin to schedule, and dont delay, as spots are filling fast!

Many thanks, and I hope to see you face down on my massage table soon!
Kristin, almasmom@mac.com

We’re Open October 2, 2007

Ok, we did it.  I admit that it has been two years of “I have this idea for a parenting center” to anyone that would even pretend to listen to me.  After taking some amazing personal development courses (landmarkeducation.com) I realized that great ideas need follow up, committment and a whole lot of other people to become reality.  We still have a long way to go to be able to really offer a full range of amazing services to new parents. So while we continue to raise money and set up services, we have great coffee and snacks, and always great conversation. Stop by!  Check out “Up Coming Events” for the weekly schedule.

Ice Cream Social A Big Success September 23, 2007

Thanks everyone for making the ice cream social event a huge success.  We raised enough to get up and running for October.  Lots of wonderful families came, ate fantastic ice cream donated by Cedar Summit Farms, ate cookies donated by Saint Paul Classic Cookie, listened to John play piano, painted with Vicki,  and played with all the wonderful donated toys.  It was a great chance to meet new people and see the space.  It gave us a great chance to talk about what Parenting Oasis can be, what our community needs.  So next we plan October.   So far we know that on October 2nd and 3rd, there will be hot coffee brewing and a room full of toys.  Bring the kids and help us create our community center.

Reintroducing…The Parenting Oasis! September 2, 2007

Dear Friends,

Things have taken off this summer and I have lots of exciting news to share. Some of you know all about The Parenting Oasis and many of you have no idea what it is- so bear with me as I tell you the story.

Over 5 years ago, when my second son Joey was born and I found how much parenting had changed since my first was born, 17 years earlier. I felt isolated and lonely and torn between my expectations of myself as a mother and myself as a professional. Like so many new mothers, I began to get most of my support through the internet. By participating in Mothering.com and Attachment Parenting International, I learned so much and by the time Zach came along 2 years later, I felt much more confident and content with the balance of work and family. But I never forgot how hard that first year was. With my mommy friends, and as a psychologist in private practice, I began to notice how many other new mothers struggled to build community and find their way.

Out of this, the idea came to me to develop a parenting community center- The Parenting Oasis. I worked with a number of other professionals, talked to lots of mommies and developed a business plan. I raised enough money to file for nonprofit charity status and begin fundraising.

So- in July, after almost 8 months of waiting, I received notice that the IRS acknowledged me as a viable charity. (This basically means all donations to The Parenting Oasis are tax-deductible.) I have been working on this business plan for 5 years and do not want to miss another long winter of serving new families so I have decided to start on a small, part-time basis in October. I have rented space in south Minneapolis at 3901 Chicago Avenue South in a church’s school space. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10-3 we will offer drop-in community space, coffee, snacks, classes, support groups, art projects, and play-dates. 

I need donations of time, money, materials and expertise.

Volunteers- Does supporting new parents interest you? Want a chance to contribute while parenting? Do you have skills and talents you would love to share? Do you know others who might be interested? Want to offer a class, rock a baby, distribute literature?

Sponsors- Do you know a business interested in supporting our work? We will be looking for larger donations as well as businesses to partner with for fundraising and marketing.

Cash- We are working on developing a list of 50 founding members. By donating $50, you not only contribute to establishing this agency, you show grant makers that The Parenting Oasis has the support of the community. (Paypal is the easiest way to help us quickly- donate to parentingoasis@gmail.com or email for our mailing address.)

You can reach The Parenting Oasis by email at parentingoasis@gmail.com or please call 612-483-3487 if you have ideas or to volunteer or make contributions.

The Parenting Oasis website is currently being redeveloped, so watch for updates. We will be hosting an ice cream social open house on September 22nd from 11-2 and will have a full Fall Calendar ready by then.

Thanks for all the support.

Maureen Campion
President