BY DONNA SWICEGOOD
The 31 teddy bears were more than table decorations at the Pharos Parenting Kids at Heart luncheon on Tuesday.
Each of the bears represented a child in North Carolina who died at the hands of a parent or caregiver in the past year.
Pharos Parenting Executive Director Tonya Fowler said one of the goals of the nonprofit organization is to try to ensure this doesn’t happen to any other children.
Pharos Parenting provides programs and classes to help mothers, fathers and caregivers deal with the stresses of being a parent.
One of those caregivers, a woman raising two relatives, said making that call to Pharos was something she encourages others to do.
“Don’t think about it. Just do it,” she said.
She and three other parents or caregivers spoke to the crowd at the Statesville Civic Center on Tuesday about the impact the organization made on their lives.
A father talked about one of Pharos’ newest programs aimed at men. The program is facilitated by a new staff member, T.J. Johnson.
The father told the crowd he was court-ordered to take parenting classes but quickly realized the value of what Pharos had to offer. He said he decided to take part in more than what he had to do.
“He wanted to be a part of it,” Johnson said.
His class aimed at fathers is just one of the programs to help parents cope with all types of struggles, said Pharos’ communications director Nate Saunders.
Pharos also introduced a program called Best Beginnings. Partnering with Iredell Health System, volunteers are able to meet with new parents shortly after the birth of their child, with the parents’ permission.
At that meeting, the new parents are given resources and encouragement.
Saunders said through the various programs and classes offered by Pharos in 2024, 130 parents were served with a 72 percent graduation rate. A total of 321 children were impacted by those parents, he said.
And even those that did not graduate from the programs, he said, were still able to learn new coping skills. “We now have parents with important parenting skills,” he said.
Fowler offered praise to the staff at Pharos and to the volunteers that make the difference for parents and children. From in-home classes to providing supervised visitation for non-custodial parents, she said, Pharos is addressing issues to making that difference.