New Programs                                                                      For 2009!

*Women Empowering Women: A support group for women to empower and encourage each other to reach their fullest potential, “Women Empowering Women” will meet on Thursdays beginning January 15. Sessions will run each week from 6:45 to 7:45 pm.

Contact Thea at the NYFS offices for additional details or to register.

*Interview Skills For Youth: A bimonthly workshop for youth ready to move beyond the job bank and seek employment at local businesses, “Interview Skills For Youth” will begin February 11.

Sessions will cover interview preparation and resume building, among other topics, and will meet from 2 to 3 pm twice each month in the Career Center at Newtown High School. Give Sheila at the NYFS office a call for details about this group.

Family Programs & Events

*“Reality Bites”: Join Stacia Helfand for “Reality Bites,” a new weight management group that offers strategies and tips for weight loss. Weekly sessions provide a weigh-in for accountability, nutrition education, and peer support. The group is 45 minutes in length and is followed by a peer walking group.

Reality Bites meets Thursday mornings at 9. Fee $15 per session or ten sessions for $125. For more information, call Stacia at 203-260-8911.

*Gym Time At Edmond Town Hall: Come spend some quality time with your children while preserving a healthy lifestyle. Gym Time for families are Wednesdays from 9:30 until 11:30 am at the town hall. Cost is $50 per family. Call Elaine at NYFS for more information.

*Parent Education Program (PEP): “Putting Children First” is a State of Connecticut program required as a prerequisite to granting a divorce. Sessions are designed to help families cope with the effects of divorce on children.

Youth Programs & Activities

*Job Bank is accepting applications from qualified 13- to 17-year-olds who want employment babysitting, pet sitting, or performing other household chores. Call between 10 am and noon weekdays for an application.

*Middle School Homework Club is running after school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

*Reed School Homework Club meets after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

*Rock ‘N Roll Middle School meets on Wednesdays from 2:30 until 5 pm.

Support Groups

*NEW – A Children of Divorce Group is now forming.

This is a special group to help your child heal from the pain caused by a separation or divorce. Meetings are Thursday nights from 5 to 6 pm, and will begin on January 8 for a six-week cycle. This session will be for 5-9-year olds.

*Alateen meetings are Tuesdays from 7 to 9 pm. This program is for youth affected by somebody else’s alcoholism. At meetings members share their personal experiences, and learn to find personal happiness, whether or not the alcoholic in their lives is still drinking.

*An Autism Group, for parents of children with special needs, meets at 7 pm the first Thursday of each month. Call Wendy Suckow, 364-1133, for more information. The group’s next meeting will be November 6.

*Mommy & Me, a support group for first-time mothers with children less than a year old, has resumed. The group meets on Tuesdays from 10:30 am until noon. Call Elaine for more information.

*NAMI is America’s largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of persons with serious mental illness. This group meetings the third Monday of each month, 9 am to noon.

*A new Sibshop group is forming. Meetings are Wednesday nights from 5 to 6 pm. This program acknowledges that being the brother or sister of a person with special needs is for some a good thing, for others a not so good thing, and for many, somewhere in-between. Classes for children ages 10–14 will begin November 5. Call Jessi to sign up.

All programs take place at NYFS, 17 Church Hill Road, unless otherwise noted. For more information or to register call 270-4335.