Via Christi Health and Kohl's Cares® are partnering again this year to make sure that parents and parents-to-be have the resources they need to be successful.
Funded through a $91,086 grant from Kohl's Cares®, Via Christi will offer the following Kohl’s Parents’ Academy programs in 2011-2012:
- Kohl's Cares® presents Family Focus on Teens, an all-new spring series of classes focusing on communications with pre-teens and teens. The classes, which could be taken singly or as a series, included:
- “If You Are Not in Charge of Your Life, Who is?” focusing on communication styles, self-awareness, assertiveness an personal growth
- “Navigating Rough Waters, a Life Raft for Parents,” a parent-focused seminar dealing with setting boundaries, relationship building, self-preservation, benefits of saying “no,” and bullying and being bullied.
- “Understanding How a Teen Sees the World,” dealing with how a teen’s brain functions and changes with growth, and how to use this knowledge to better communicate with your teen.
- Kohl's Cares® presents Boot Camp for Dads®, a three-hour program offered once a month that pairs expectant fathers with veteran dads and their newborns for hands-on training.
- Kohl's Cares® presents Happiest Baby on the BlockTM, a two-hour program offered once a month that teaches parents the five steps to calming a crying baby by triggering the self-calming reflexes babies already know.
- The Wichita Community Baby Shower, an annual education program for new and expectant parents sponsored by Kohl's Cares®, Children’s Mercy Family Health Partners, Via Christi Health and other community providers.
- Scholarships for Via Christi Hospital’s interactive, web-based childbirth education program.
“With Kohl's Cares® support, we’re able to reach out to parents in a variety of ways to help ensure that they have the education, skills and resources they need to successfully parent their children from infancy through the teen years,” said Jim Barber, president of the Via Christi Foundation, which administers the grant. “In doing so, we hope to help create safe, loving environments for all children and a healthier community overall.”
Since 2006, Kohl’s has donated $385,104 to the Via Christi Foundation to support projects such as the Kohl’s Parents’ Academy, made possible through the Kohl's Cares® cause merchandise program. Through this initiative, Kohl’s sells $5 books and plush toys, with 100 percent of net profit benefitting health and education for children nationwide, including hospital partnerships like this one. Kohl's has raised more than $150 million through this merchandise program.
Manhattan, KS 
