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Embracing Home Visits: Honoring Parents and Strengthening Communities

NNPA NEWSWIRE — This might look like encouraging positive parenting practices or helping parents develop their children’s early math and reading skills. Home visitors can also help parents find resources in their communities, like daycare, health care, and more.

Published

2 years ago

November 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Miriam Westheimer, Founder of the National Home Visiting Network and Chief Program Officer of Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngers (HIPPY)

The transition to parenthood is far from easy – and even more difficult if parents don’t have support. Studies show that less than half of parents feel prepared for parenthood before the birth of their first baby, and only 18% feel confident as parents after their child arrives. While many external factors can affect a parent’s early experiences with their children, one thing is clear: new parents need support from people who understand their experiences.

Home visiting programs, like Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY), can help. These successful programs redefine empowerment. Under these models, designated community members, known as home visitors, don’t “bestow” power upon parents. Instead, home visitors affirm that parents simply need support to elevate their natural abilities. To provide that support, home visitors work alongside parents and other primary caregivers in a child’s home, taking family needs into account to tailor support. This might look like encouraging positive parenting practices or helping parents develop their children’s early math and reading skills. Home visitors can also help parents find resources in their communities, like daycare, health care, and more.

Peer-to-peer engagement is a central and striking feature of home visits. Often, the home visitors are parents themselves and draw on personal experience to connect with families. This model underscores a truth too often overlooked: credentials alone do not define an educator. Instead, genuine empathy among parents can be just as — if not more — impactful. Home visiting programs use peer-to-peer knowledge sharing to build on parents’ unique understanding of their children in three key ways:

Parents are their children’s first teachers — and can have long-term positive effects on their children’s futures. Home visitors often teach parents the basics of educational play. This form of play has demonstrable positive developmental effects on children, specifically on early literacy, math, social and emotional, and other cognitive skills. These positive effects persist even after a child’s participation in a home visiting program has been concluded. As a result of home visiting programs and parents’ educational play, children experience increased school readiness, and participants will have higher rates of both school and college attendance. Children’s younger siblings often benefit from their older siblings’ participation, as well. Over the longer term, participants will see higher lifetime earnings totals due to their increased educational attainment and better employment outcomes.
Parents can affect change beyond their own child’s education. We need to celebrate home visiting models not just as educational tools, but also as catalysts for civic engagement. Parents gain confidence from teaching their children, which empowers them to advocate within their communities. These programs are guided by the ethos of neighbors working alongside one another — a “we,” not an “I.” Through these relationships, parents see that it’s possible to initiate change on their blocks, in their neighborhoods, and their communities. And parents can go to civic meetings, stand up, and say, “I’m a parent, and these issues matter to me.” They move beyond passive roles to become active participants in their communities, influencing local policies and championing causes that affect not only their children but also our collective future.
Parents find new opportunities to learn and grow as both parents and professionals. But programs like HIPPY don’t just inspire parents to participate in civic engagement. They also give parents a professional path forward. Through experiences in home visiting programs, some parents unlock a passion for early childhood education, leading to work as home visitors, pre-K professionals, or even K-12 educators. These parents are then inspired to share their knowledge with other parents, and they apply for jobs and are hired to work for programs like HIPPY as part of an individual equity accelerator model. In fact, after participating in the program, home visitors often experience an increase in their educational attainment and wages in the long run. Many home visitors are also incentivized to continue their education and develop their careers, moving into nonprofit management with home-visiting partner organizations or community organizing. Home visitors invest in parents, and parents invest in their children. This kind of “triple workforce” development uplifts everybody, from kids to parents to entrepreneurs.

While becoming a parent can be challenging, programs like HIPPY can make the process easier—and empower parents in new ways. Home visiting programs are about so much more than teaching parents how to facilitate educational activities for their children. They are also powerful platforms for transforming parents into community leaders and advocates, redefining what it means to educate and engage.

HIPPY has dedicated staff, school partners, service agencies, community leaders, advocates, and families in 20 states and the District of Columbia, comprising a total of 96 HIPPY sites. HIPPY is a free program for parents of children ages 2, 3, or 4. To learn more about HIPPY, who qualifies, and where it’s available, please visit https://www.hippyus.org/

Oakland Post

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Smooth Ride! Car Suspension & Comfort Tested #shorts

Smooth suspension meets surprisingly spacious legroom. Experience true comfort on any road!

Published

1 month ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

Car suspension test demonstrating a smooth ride, comfort features, and handling on various terrains.

Experience the difference smooth suspension makes on rough streets. Check out the surprisingly good second-row legroom – test it yourself for true comfort.

Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/l9Z571za5Gc

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61 years since Selma, Houston leaders say the bridge remains to be crossed

61 years after Selma, Houston leaders say the fight for equality continues. The issues that sparked the marches still impact Black Americans today.

Published

1 month ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

Houston leaders discuss the ongoing struggle for civil rights 61 years after Selma, emphasizing the need for continued action.

It has been 61 years since the Selma marches. But political leaders in Houston say that the issues protesters were marching for still plague the lives of Black Americans.

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Here is what you need to know about finding unique white elephant gift ideas that everyone wants to steal

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition. The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half […]

Published

1 month ago

October 4, 2026

Oakland Post

The best white elephant gift ideas are funny enough to get a reaction but useful enough that people actually want to steal them. Look for gifts with a surprise factor, broad appeal, an inside joke, and just enough personality to spark some friendly competition.

The wrapping paper comes off, the room goes quiet for half a second, and suddenly everyone wants the same gift. That is the sweet spot. A great white elephant pick should make people laugh, lean in, and start plotting their next steal before the turn is even over.

Should a White Elephant Gift Be Funny or Useful?

A white elephant gift can be funny or useful, but the strongest choices usually give people a reason to laugh and a reason to keep the item. A practical gift with an odd design, unexpected feature, or playful theme can get a reaction without becoming something the recipient immediately wants to give away.

The right balance depends on the group. Close friends and family members may enjoy a ridiculous gag gift because they already understand one another’s sense of humor.

A workplace exchange, neighborhood party, or mixed-age gathering usually calls for something with broader appeal. In those settings, humor works better when it is built into an item people could still use afterward.

It also helps to think about how quickly the gift will make sense once it is opened. A strangely shaped kitchen tool, oversized mug, quirky desk accessory, or unexpectedly fancy everyday item can create an immediate reaction. Guests understand the joke right away, while the item still has enough practical value to attract a steal.

Pure gag gifts can be harder to pull off. Something that exists only for the punchline may get a big laugh during the reveal and then sit untouched for the rest of the game. If the goal is to bring one of the gifts everyone keeps fighting over, usefulness gives the joke staying power.

Memorable Present Ideas: Creating Inside Joke Gifts

Inside joke gifts can make a white elephant exchange feel much more personal, especially when most of the group shares the same stories. The trick is choosing a reference that people will recognize quickly instead of building the entire joke around something only two guests understand.

You can turn a memorable vacation mishap, office catchphrase, family story, or long-running group joke into the theme of the gift. A personalized comic book can work especially well when it turns familiar people or a ridiculous shared moment into part of the story.

Think carefully about who the joke involves before ordering anything permanent. The gift should make the person feel included in the fun, not singled out for the wrong reason.

Can You Bring Something You Already Own?

Holiday gift exchanges can be a good place to re-gift something you never used, especially if it is unopened and clean.

The following can all work if they still look presentable:

A duplicate kitchen gadget
An untouched game
A decorative item
A sealed gift set
An unopened candle
A new travel accessory

The goal is to give the item a second chance, not use the exchange as an excuse to clear out damaged or unwanted clutter.

Take a close look at the packaging before wrapping it. Faded boxes, missing pieces, visible wear, or anything that looks obviously used can make the gift feel careless.

Wrapping Budget-Friendly Gifts

Wrapping can make gifts more entertaining before anyone even knows what’s inside.

Misdirection works especially well for fun party games. Put a small gift inside a much larger box. Use packaging from an unrelated household item.

Add harmless weight so guests cannot guess what they are holding. The reveal becomes part of the joke without changing the gift itself.

You can also lean into the theme of the exchange. Bright paper, oversized bows, reusable bags, or deliberately over-the-top wrapping can make an ordinary item feel more memorable. If the gift itself is already funny, simple wrapping may work better so the surprise stays hidden until the last second.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Picking Last an Advantage in White Elephant?

Picking last can be an advantage because you get to see almost every gift before making your move. Instead of choosing blindly from the remaining wrapped presents, you can steal something that has already caught your attention if the rules still allow it.

That advantage depends on the house rules. Some games limit how many times a gift can be stolen.

Others lock an item once it reaches a certain number of steals. If the most popular gifts are already unavailable, the final player may have fewer strong options than expected.

The first player can also get another turn at the end in some versions of the game. That rule can balance things out, since the person who started with the least information may get one final chance to steal.

How Do You Plan White Elephant for a Large Group?

For a large white elephant exchange, set a firm spending limit and establish the stealing rules in advance.

Create a clear turn order before the game begins. Drawing numbers as guests arrive can save time once everyone is ready to start.

Keep the number of steals per gift limited so the game does not drag on. It also helps to have one person track which creative holiday presents have been stolen and when they are locked, especially if dozens of people are participating.

Can You Play White Elephant Virtually?

A virtual white elephant exchange can work over a video call, with one person keeping track of the turn order and each steal. Guests can either mail physical gifts ahead of time or use digital gifts that can be delivered once the game ends.

Set the spending limit and stealing rules before everyone joins. It also helps to decide how gifts will be revealed and who is responsible for sending each one afterward so the exchange does not become confusing.