SBV’s Logo, children in various positions, holding up the letters of the logo, with a depiction of a little village at the top of the picture, with a church with a cross on the top on the left of the village

To Donate to our 501(c)(3) and connect with us further, click HERE on our LinkTree. Thank you!

Greetings of peace and joy! We at Strengthening the Black Village (SBV) welcome you! We are “weaving together villages of care for the nourishment of the souls, bodies, and minds of our children.”

Read about Collaboration in Changemakers!

Strengthening the Black Village (SBV)

While the current cohort ends May 23, 2024, we ask you to stay posted for the summer cohort due to set off the first week of July! Stay tuned for details.

Families, in all of our wholeness and brokenness, are complicated and fragile at points! We are also strong and resilient at other points. All family reunification, preservation, and maintenance attempts must be equally flexible. #ItTakesAVillage #FosterCareAwareness #ComeHolySpirit #LetUsPray

As I facilitate #EffectiveBlackParenting as a former #FosterChild myself, with foster parents, social workers, bio families, and others all in the same room, I think of and pray for ways for all God’s people to work together to most faithfully and skillfully seek the #BestInterestOfTheChild #BestInterestOfTheFamily #GodWillBeDone truly

Effective Black Parenting (EBP) Cohort 6:

April 2-May 23, 2024

Registration is open for our spring Effective Black Parenting cohort beginning on April 2, 2024! Strengthening The Black Village – SBV offers unique parenting classes, accessible virtually and in-person, tools for families before DCFS involvement or removal of a child from home. As part of the court process, we also accept and train parents after a child is placed outside the house. We encourage extended family members and community adults to take the course to increase their knowledge in the village for children. Students are offered hospitality, child care, and transportation to assist adults in overcoming logistical barriers. The February 6-March 28 course will be on Zoom with in-person options.

Together, we explore human development, care for caregivers, effective praise, discipline methods, avoiding street pressures, and more. Each session opens with devotion and prayer and uses African in biblical proverbs.

If you’re interested, please REGISTER HERE, and we will contact you regarding your acceptance, requirements, etc. Thank you.

Our courses are free for students so that that cost will be no barrier to family unity. We always accept donations and contributions, so please donate through the Facebook giving fund. We appreciate you! https://strengtheningtheblackvillage.org/

Our 90-Minute EBP Workshop – Wednesday, November 15, 2023, 6–7 p.m.

Glory to God! We had a wonderful time together, and hopefully, some of our visitors will return as students for the winter/spring cohort, which is listed above, to become one of our instructors, volunteers, or donors!

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Who are we? And what are we about? I’m glad you asked!🙏🏽❤️ Rev. Christy Ann Clark, here! Come find out. Strengthening the Black Village is my primary clergy appointment and my passion. On Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 6 PM. We are hosting an in-person 90-minute nutshell workshop for those who want to know more about the #EffectiveBlackParenting Training we do but might not be ready or interested in signing up for the entire two-month cohort. If that’s you, please let me know so we can put you on the list. Refreshments will be served. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Saint Mark United Methodist Church, 8305 S. Gramercy Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90047. Space is limited.

We invite parents/guardians/mentors. We also ask those who believe teaching these parenting courses in your congregation or community would be great and might want to partner with us.

Please register for our workshops and courses HERE! If you need to take the course to be certified for your children to be returned to you, this 90-minute workshop won’t do it, but it will give you a taste of what we’re offering so you can decide if the entire course is for you.

Fall Cohort (In Progress)

Cohort FIVE!! Parents, mentors, teachers, and youth workers who wish to improve parenting and mentoring of youth, especially black youth, and those who may know people who qualify. Our course begins on Tuesday, October 3, 2023!. The 15-module course will run on Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 PM -9 PM PST. We end and graduate on Tuesday, November 21, 2023. The course is customized to the needs of the students who show interest, so be in touch as soon as possible. Important announcement about the course: if you have been court-mandated to take parenting training, we offer certificates you can present to the courts, your social workers, etc. Letters and other proof of enrollment, attendance, and participation are available upon request.

While this course is now closed, we are looking to start a winter cohort, so please register, and we will contact you with details. Also, look above for more information about the one-day, 90-minute workshop overview. We have a coming up in November.

It Is History/Herstory!

A Taste of the Village: SBV’s Effective Black Parenting In A Nutshell Workshop

Thank you! to those who attended our A Taste Of The Village hosted at Bowen UMC on January 4, 2023. I was overjoyed to have couples and co-parents in the workshop. Regardless of our relationship status, our children still need us, and I was delighted to see#BlackAndBrownMen in the room!

For those who now want a snapshot of Strengthening The Black Village Effective Black Parenting training, we are one of the presenters at this year’s #BlackFamilySummit in Los Angeles. In short, we will condense 15 modules of exercise and nourishment into an hour-and-a-half training, going over the highlights of the course and leaving participants with concrete steps for nurturing the children in their care. While space is limited, it is open, and you are welcome to partake in the banquet of resources, workshops, and food. So much will be learned from the other wonderful, magnetic, and life-changing speakers. Resources for our community are available(and increasing). We need to know where they are, when to reach out, and when to refer others. Let’s #BeTheVillage God bless! Here’s to #FamiliesIn23.

Thank you, National Association of African-American Parents and Youth (NAAAPY) and Yolande Beckles, for inviting us and allowing us to present a workshop! #Spiritual #PERFUMES

Learn more and register by clicking the link here or the QR code on the flyer above:

https://www.naaapy.org/blackfamilysummit

Strengthening the Black Village (SBV)’s Effective Black Parenting Course

If you’re sure the course is for you, that flyer and registration information is below. Remember, letters can be provided upon request if you’ve been court-mandated to take the parenting course.

Strengthening the Black Village (SBV) Effective Black Parenting Cohort 3 begins on Monday, February 6, 2023, at 7 PM on ZOOM! To register, scan the QR code at the bottom of the flyer image or Register HERE!

The image below is my son and I hosting a booth at Faith United Methodist Church, Los Angeles, community pop-up! It’s all about the community and the village.