The Children’s Trust Faces of Prevention Award honors and recognizes family support professionals who go above and beyond to support families and strengthen communities.
The Children’s Trust, dedicated to ending child abuse and neglect, announced today that Cambridge resident Kim Tran has received its Faces of Prevention award. Faces of Prevention honors and recognizes family support workers across Massachusetts who are addressing the root causes of child abuse and neglect in their communities. Tran is the Program Assistant at the Cambridge Center for Families, a Family Center based out of the City of Cambridge’s Department of Human Service Programs. Family Centers are community hubs where parents and caregivers can find support as they navigate the joys and challenges of parenting. Family Centers are supported by the Children’s Trust and offer access to local resources, parenting education, family-centered activities, and opportunities to connect with other families in the community.
“Kim lives and breathes child abuse prevention in her amazing ability to create a second home for families with young children where they feel safe and a part of a community,” said Cynthia Woodward, Family Services Coordinator for the Cambridge Center for Families, who nominated Tran for the award. “Families come to see her and leave feeling connected to the community and knowing where they can go if they need support. When she sees a need or a gap in the community, she works to fill it. She is a true leader in our community.”
Tran has been involved with the Cambridge Center for Families for fifteen years. She first engaged with the Center as a parent enrolled in its programming and then began working part-time for the Center as a Family Support Outreach Worker. She has served as the Center’s full-time Program Assistant since 2017.
“We know that kids are okay when their parents are okay so everything we do is about family support. From the outside, it might just look like we are running fun programming for little kids – and we are – but we do that to get parents in the door so that we can build relationships with them and they know they can come to us and to each other if they need support,” said Tran. “I am so inspired by the families. After they spend time with us, they feel more confident and capable as parents.”
Tran works closely with the Cambridge community to develop and oversee programming designed to meet the needs of the families in the area. This includes implementing a program model that provides childcare for parents enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes, ensuring they have reliable support so they can focus on their education. Last spring, she worked with families who live in a Cambridge housing development, creating a welcoming and interactive weekly program of activities they could do with their young children. When she noticed a number of fathers attending the program, she referred them to the Center for Families’ Cambridge Dads program, which encourages engagement and connection between father figures in the community through events and programs. In addition to program development, Tran also supervises the Center’s outreach staff and is a strong advocate for their ongoing training and professional development.
“My hope for the future is that we can continue to build up the family support profession. We need more people in the field who are able to do the work. Many staff in this field are underpaid and undervalued, but the work is vital to the health of our communities,” said Tran.
Tran is originally from Vietnam and now lives in Cambridge, where she raised her two children.
The Children’s Trust partners with Cambridge Center for Families to support programs that help families thrive. Family Centers are part of the Children’s Trust’s network of programs.
