Catherine Myers has spent more than four decades as a volunteer leader with the national grassroots nonprofit organization Family and Home Network (FAHN). She served in many roles, and learned much from colleagues as well as the thousands of parents who communicated with the organization via the monthly journal Welcome Home (printed and mailed in the days before the internet)..
A homeschooling / unschooling mother in the 1980 and 1990s, she returned to college to finish her Bachelor’s degree after her children were grown, earning a degree in Individualized Studies in Human Development, Parenting and Policy at George Mason University (2012).
.
Unpaid caregiving has been a big part of her life, from at-home mothering for her children to many years of elder care to alloparenting and learning with her four grandsons, whose ages span seventeen years. A life-long self-directed learner, Cathy loved digging into the components of the Evolved Nest and the Kinship worldview in the Nesting Ambassador program. She’s looking forward to working alongside other Nesting Ambassadors and continuing to explore ways to offer this knowledge to anyone and everyone.
.
Grassroots nonprofit leader offering affirmation, information and advocacy to parents; working for inclusive policies for all families.
.
Learn about Cathy’s nonprofit work on Kindred in this feature and podcast:
.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
.
My Nesting Ambassador project is to further weave the Evolved Nest into the work of Family and Home Network.
.
First, a reorganization of our Resources page. We’ve been collecting resources for families for more than four decades, and they’re now presented in three main sections:
– Components of the Evolved Nest
– Time, Culture and Politics
– Parents’ Experiences and Challenges
.
For each of the Evolved Nest components, there are very brief explanations with links to learn more followed by listings of support and inspiration.
.
Second, Family and Home Network focuses on the power of parent-child time together in promoting health and well-being. Every family must face decisions about time together: how much time together is needed? How much is desired? How willing and/or able are parents to cut back on the time they spend on income-earning or academics or personal pursuits? In our six-week Transitioning Home workshops, we offer parents the opportunity to meet online in small groups to consider parent-child time together with explorations of science, culture, personal and familial expectations, financial resources and more. In our workshops, we offer readings, reflections and conversations, acknowledging that there is no universal correct answer and recognizing the diversity of families’ strategies when it comes to income-earning and caregiving. Information about the Evolved Nest and about Kinship worldview is woven into these workshops.
.
Third, in our advocacy work, Family and Home Network calls for inclusive policies that equitably serve all families, regardless of how they provide caregiving and income-earning. The science of the Evolved Nest powerfully supports the imperative for society to provide economic support to mothers (or other primary caregivers) and trust them to make decisions about the care of their children.
.
CONTACT: cmyers@familyandhome.org –