For the past two years, the PINNACLE family enrichment program has been touching parents and children by helping to resolve conflict and enrich lives with counseling and classes.
The main focus of the PINNACLE program is to work with parents to strengthen parenting skills and caregiver abilities. PINNACLE, an acronym for Parenting Institution where Nature and Nurture Attend and Children Learn Effectively, is part of Lutheran Social Services and funded by a three-year grant from the Department of Human Services.
Ethereo Akinshegun, program coordinator and clinical supervisor, says there are certain mandates for the program but it is flexible enough to tailor to individual needs with a special understanding of the African-American population on St. Croix.
“Something is universal though – we all take care of our offspring,” Akinshegun says.
Akinshegun, who holds a master’s in psychology from U.C. Berkeley, says about 75 percent of the participants are court ordered to participate through family court and others are referred by various social services.
Classes are on anger management, conflict resolution, home management, financial literacy, child development, self esteem, health and nutrition, forging a “Path to the Pyramid of Success for Black Children” as the program booklet puts it.
“New moms have the most difficulty with many issues,” Akinshegun says. “Their challenge is these are skills they have never learned or may not have seen growing up.”
He says he has had three generations of families come to counseling with moms grabbing daughters and grandmas to attend. “It is a blessing to even have grandmothers come,” Akinshegun says. “It is a joy for them to be able to find they are doing the right thing and feel good about it.”
Akinshegun would like to see more than the usual four or five men attend the classes.
“Men come in skeptical, but begin to gain trust and confidence after a while,” Akinshegun says.
Akinshegun says they are having a graduation soon, marking the distinction of having the 50th graduate of the program.
When graduates need to talk and communicate there is a weekly Family Support Group meeting. Akinshegun says last year they held a Family Fun Day and a Read to Your Child program at the Florence Williams Public Library in Christiansted.
The classes are held Tuesdays and Thursdays for 10 weeks from 6 to 8 p.m. in Frederiksted. There is a nice cozy little room set up next to the class with sofas, toys, books and games with child care provided.
With the encouragement of Human Services Commissioner Chris Finch, PINNACLE has formed a consortium with other grant recipients – Beyond Visions and Women’s Coalition.
“I actually feel people have gained knowledge, experience and knowhow from counseling and class,” Akinshegun says. “We may have provided the missing link. Getting someone to listen is often enough to get rid of pain.”
For more information call 772-0090 ext. 25.
