Bananas Blog
Featured: The Packard Foundation Highlights a ROOTS x BANANAS PARTNERSHIP
What happens when two Oakland organizations collaborate to support new moms in Oakland? The Packard Foundation recently sat down with the ROOTS X BANANAS team to discuss how we’re streamlining support for families in our community with a Maternal Health Home Visiting...
BANANAS Celebrates Provider Appreciation Day!
Happy Provider Appreciation Day!
BANANAS Announces New Director of Community Services
We are pleased to announce that Sarah Silva will be the new Community Services Director, effective October 23, 2023. We concluded our candidate interviews and the Directors unanimously believe that Sarah is the best candidate to move forward and assume this important...
Part 3: Doubling Up & Couch Surfing: The Hidden Homeless
Couch-surfing is often referred to as a “hidden” form of homelessness. A common form of housing among low-income families in the Bay Area, couch surfers temporarily stay with friends or family on a couch, or any extra space in the home where they can spend the night....
Speech and Language: Tips and Tricks!
The following is a guest post from our newest trainer, Pediatric Speech and Language Pathologist, Carol Lettko. Here are a few go-to creative ideas to help keep your little ones engaged while reinforcing their language skills during play!Remember to keep your child's...
What parents should know about getting kids ready for transitional kindergarten
by Karen D'Souza who covers early education at EdSource Going back to school is always a bit of a sticky transition, but this year there’s more to worry about, from teacher shortages to mask rules, than the usual concerns. On top of all that, there are many more...
2022 FFN “Bridging the Gap” Conference Summations
Hello, again community! Thank you for participating in our conference, it was a labor of love and teamwork. We appreciate everyone who shared their insights and experiences. I hope that you all were able to connect with each other. We wanted to share everyone’s...
2022 Family, Friends, and Neighbor Conference Takeaway
What We Learned from “Bridging the Gap” Last summer, BANANAS was asked by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation to create a virtual conference for the Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) caregiver community. It was important to BANANAS to create an event for the FFNs...
BANANAS 2022 Mother’s Day Campaign
Give a Gift That Says "Thank You for Everything!"Why is Mother’s Day So Special? Our mothers and mother-figures have shined the past couple of years. In addition to their daily responsibilities, mothers were tasked with defining what a ‘new normal’ looks like for...
Male Early Child Care Professionals Matter!
Written by Sharon Shi We need more men to break the stereotype of the female-dominated child care industry in today’s gender equity world. From the Hechinger Report, males total only 3% of early childhood educators (1). In our society and history, we have these very...
