Imaginative Parents: Gerardo and Agustina

Gerardo Camacho and his wife Agustina have lived in W. Humboldt Park on the near north side of Chicago for the past five years. There they raise their children: Guadalupe (13), Vanessa (8), Eduardo (6), and Monica (9 months). Gerardo’s job requires him to work the third shift, returning home in the early morning to spend a few hours with his children and then sleep until his next shift. In his experience, it is common for parents with busy work and family lives not to have time to be involved in school and/or community activities. Gerardo and Agustina are not such parents.

The older Camacho children all attend Alfred Nobel Elementary School. Aside from taking them there and back, Gerardo and Agustina knew little about the school and maintained few connections to it. But they did know that they wanted to ensure that their children would grow and learn in safe, creative, and stimulating environments. The school coordinator offered them the opportunity to get involved in Imagine Chicago’s Reading Chicago and Bringing it Home parent development program. "From what Ms. Lopez said, it sounded interesting. We decided that it might be a good way to discover new resources to help our children," recalled Gerardo.

Reading Chicago and Bringing it Home met monthly in locations such as the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Chicago Historical Society. Parents learned, in interactive workshops, about systems central to both family and city life — like transportation, energy, education, communication. Each topic featured one core skill essential to city living (map skills, budgeting, using public transportation, primary health care, reading a bill, computer literacy). Parents designed family activities to do with their children that reinforced key ideas and learning methods. Through research, discussing life experience, visiting museum exhibits, hearing presentations, and sharing ideas with parents from other cultures and neighborhoods, participants had the opportunity to think through what makes a family and city work.

At the first meeting, Gerardo and Agustina were observers, listening to Imagine Chicago staff describe the program. As other parents asked questions, they realized that many were dealing with the same issues, despite differences in race and culture. Encouraged by both participants and facilitators, they began to actively engage in workshops and field trips. Slowly, yet steadily, new conversations were taking place on various levels. "Through my experience in the parent program, I learned that if you work at something, there is bound to be some change. When we got home from a meeting, we would take time and talk to each other about what we learned. We were able to open up discussions with our children about what they did and how they learned," said Gerardo. Better communication in the family resulted from these efforts.