Parenting is: rewarding, exhausting, hilarious, and…simply put, challenging. More than ever, parents are looking for ways to ensure that their young children’s physical and mental health, educational, and developmental needs are met.
Today, thanks to a partnership between First Things First Porter County (FTF) and Bright by Text, parenting will be a touch easier.
Bright by Text, a national non-profit, sends free text messages to caregivers across the country to guide and support families and help give every child the brightest possible start in life.
In teaming up with Bright by Text, FTF will share messages with Porter County families, connecting them to local resources and helpful services in their zip code. Families will receive information about Help Me Grow and early childhood service providers, as well as connections to services such as local events, health fairs, library resources, food pantries, and preschool open enrollment periods.
Through this partnership, parents will also receive messages timed exactly to their child’s age, prenatally up to age 11, with helpful information on hot-button topics like sleep, tantrums, picky eating, sibling rivalries and more. Messages share tips, conversation starters, games, activities, videos, and encouragement. Bright by Text messages are created in collaboration with childhood experts such as PBSKIDS, Common Sense Media, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Learn the Signs, Act Early campaign, and others.
“Our partners and providers are often brainstorming how to reach families more directly, and FTF is always excited to help facilitate community connections in Porter County. Bright By Text allows us to better engage with our community and promote early relational health to caregivers.” – Laura Green, Outreach Coordinator at First Things First Porter County
To sign up, parents or other caregivers can text the word PORTER to 274 448.
About First Things First Porter County
Because early childhood development affects every aspect of our community, the Porter County Community Foundation launched FTF in 2021 to strengthen, sustain and nurture partnerships to promote healthy beginnings, family support and quality early experiences. FTF catalyzes community partners to create a thriving ecosystem of care and support ensuring every baby born in Porter County has a strong start to life. FTF brings together organizations, providers and individuals across the county working to mitigate families' challenges when they welcome a baby home. For more information, please visit FirstThingsPC.org.
About Bright By Text
Through tips, information, games and resources sent by text message, Bright by Text is proven to build nurturing caregiver-child relationships, strengthen families, promote a child’s healthy development, and improve school readiness. Messages are timed to a child’s exact age and zip code, prenatally through age 10, and offered in both English and Spanish. An independent study of Bright by Text found that the service helps parents feel less overwhelmed, led to higher levels of verbal interaction between parents and children, and supported age-appropriate language development in children. Bright by Text currently reaches the families of more than 285,000 kids across the U.S.