FIERCE ADVOCATES FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS EQUITABLY ROOTED IN CO
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Mission Statement
FIERCE Advocates amplifies the voices of parents/caregivers of color and partners with them to advance equitable access and opportunities for all youth to have quality education and all families to achieve emotional and physical well-being. We realize our goals through healing-centered care, leadership development, and parent-led advocacy.
About This Cause
FIERCE Advocates, formerly known as Building Blocks for Kids (BBK), has helped over 9,000 families thrive since its inception in 2005. By partnering with Black and Latinx parents and caregivers on their journey to address trauma, center individual and family wellness, and claim radical self-care as essential to their well-being, FIERCE Advocates has seen entire families and neighborhoods transform. FIERCE Advocates partners with and serves primarily Black and Latinx individuals and families who embody resilience and wisdom. These community members seek equitable opportunities to overcome life’s challenges and build self-and-collective empowerment. While it is evident BBK participants are strivers, many families experience poverty, neighborhoods with high rates of violence, underperforming schools, social isolation, depression, anxiety, and unleveraged power due to language barriers and social status. Accessing quality, affordable, and culturally competent wellness care that supports healing and emotional well-being is challenging for Contra Costa residents, especially low-income and communities of color. Without healing resources for their trauma, parents, and caregivers working to overcome the compounding impacts of racism and toxic stress face even greater challenges in advocating effectively for their children and themselves. There is a dramatic Opportunity Gap for students of color in West Contra Costa County. Black and Latinx youth continue to underperform at all levels. They are disproportionately disciplined with suspensions and other punishments that facilitate the school-to-prison pipeline and reduce students’ opportunities to succeed and realize their dreams. FIERCE Advocates calls for reclaiming and reimagining education and health systems by working strategically across three main program areas to strengthen families and empower parents and caregivers – Health and Wellness, Leadership Development, and Community Engagement and Advocacy. FIERCE Advocates' health and wellness programs focus on sparking personal and collective well-being. We host weekly family wellness activities, Black Woman's, Latina's, and Men's peer support sanctuaries, and CoCo Doulas, a free doula training and doula support program for Black birthing families in Contra Costa County. Through its leadership Development program, we equip parents with skills and tools for self-empowerment. These programs include individual life coaching, community-based doula training, and our Community Educational Leadership Institute (CELI) for BIPOC parents who want to lead with a social equity agenda on boards, committees, and commissions. FIERCE Advocates' parent-led advocacy program educates, informs, and promotes collective empowerment for parents and families to become active voices and influencers for change. Given support, resources, and love, parents feel more empowered to speak up for themselves and advocate for their children and others. Parents and caregivers partnering with FIERCE Advocates are witnessing tremendous transformations in themselves, their families, and their community. Parents and caregivers are healing generations of trauma, claiming their roles as strong, nurturing leaders in their families and modeling wellness for their children. With newfound knowledge and confidence, they are advocating as never before for their children at school and in health systems.