Cope Family Center Celebrates Golden Anniversary
50 years of Strengthening Families and Protecting Children
Fifty years ago, a group of dedicated community members came together in response to a child abuse-related death. The new nonprofit, known then as Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS), was an all-volunteer grassroots organization focused on child abuse prevention and awareness.
For the first few years, the new nonprofit operated out of Founder Linda (Thomas) Scott’s home, providing a 24-hour hotline for parents in crisis. By 1976, the organization had an office at 720 Randolph Street, changed its name to Child or Parent Emergency (C.O.P.E.), and hired their first paid Director. Additional services were added to better meet the needs of families. In addition to the hotline, volunteers provided relief babysitting, emergency foster care for up to three weeks, and “mother's helpers”.
By the 1980s, services expanded to include diapers and other emergency aid distribution; home visiting services; and, in partnership with Napa County Child Welfare Services, court-ordered Supervised Visitation. In addition to the parent hotline, volunteers operated the PhoneFriend hotline for “latchkey children”, kids who were left home alone after school.
Jackie O’Neill learned about Cope as a new mother in the 1980s. With a background in social services, Jackie knew how important it was to support struggling parents. “I felt that Cope’s work with the family as a whole unit was really important and would help build a good strong community by helping reduce the stress of parenting,” O’Neill recalled. “So, I started out as a volunteer on the parent hotline and later got involved as a Board member”. O’Neill still volunteers at Cope today.
Marti Brennan, Cope’s longest tenured employee, has also been involved with Cope since the early 1980’s, first as a volunteer and as staff since 1995. “When I first started as a volunteer, I would provide emergency childcare to stressed out parents. I remember one mom whose daughter was sick and she didn’t have anyone to watch her. If she missed another day of work, she was going to lose her job. So she dropped her daughter off and I watched her while her mom worked. She was so thankful for the help that allowed her to keep her job.”
In the 1990s, Cope started offering group support and parenting classes, extended services to Spanish-speaking families, and started serving as the administrative lead of the Child Abuse Council of Napa County (CAPC), a role it continues today. In 1992, Cope and CAPC led the first annual Blue Ribbon Campaign, an awareness campaign that is held each April to raise awareness and funds for child abuse prevention.
By the turn of the century, Cope had a permanent home in the converted Victorian house on the corner of Franklin and Fourth in downtown Napa and had changed its name to Cope Family Center. Joelle Gallagher was hired as Executive Director in 2001, a position she held for 16 years. “During my time at Cope, there was a lot of emerging research about childhood trauma and its lifelong impact,” said Gallagher. “The data demonstrated how abuse, neglect and other Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can negatively impact physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral development with lasting effects on health, well-being, and prosperity well into adulthood.”
As a result, Cope’s programs evolved to focus on evidence-based programs that addressed healing and preventing childhood trauma. Investments in staff and building strong partnerships with likeminded organizations were the focus of the agency’s growth. Now Cope collaborates with a wide network of partner organizations and government agencies to provide a continuum of care throughout the county that works to reduce family stress and trauma.
Current Executive Director Michele Grupe has been at the helm since 2017 after serving as Development Director then Associate Director since 2003. Since stepping into the Executive Director role, she has led the organization through multiple disasters as it responded to the changing needs of the community. “Our staff works with families who are in crisis and need support daily. Helping residents navigate through and manage the trauma associated with disasters like earthquakes, fires, and a pandemic is a natural fit. As trusted messengers, we can help individuals regulate their emotions, provide them with emergency aid and connect them with other services to support their recovery.” Through this response and recovery work over the last five years, Cope’s team has also been integrally involved in the Napa Valley Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), helping prepare for the next disaster.
Another focus under Grupe’s leadership has been elevating the voices of children and families. Cope’s community building and civic engagement program works to bring positive change to systemic issues affecting families in our community to help families today and for generations to come. “A huge part of helping children and families is advocating on their behalf and empowering them to advocate for themselves,” said Grupe. “Cope works with clients, partners and the community to take action on issues that impact the well-being of children, families and future generations.”
While much has changed since 1972, Cope Family Center’s mission of supporting parents and protecting children remains critically important. Today, Cope Family Center is a $2 million organization with 24 staff, annually serving over 800 families raising more than 1,600 children. Current services include drop-in crisis support, emergency aid and connection to community resources; home visiting for families with children 0-5 years old; and one on one and group parenting classes for parents of children and teens 2-16 years old. All services are free and offered in English and Spanish.
“Every parent struggles at some point,” said Julie Murphy, Program Director. “Raising children is no easy task, especially when combined with other stressful situations or challenging life events. Asking for help is a sign of strength and I want every parent to know that you can come to Cope for help with any struggle you may be facing. We will listen with compassion and connect you with the resources you need to get through tough times.”
Having somewhere to go for help transforms the lives of families in our community - families like Gretel’s. Gretel first heard about Cope when she was pregnant with her third child. At the time, she had lost custody of her older children due to her opioid addiction and was living at Rainbow House, a transitional living program for young mothers. She didn’t have a job, or a car, and was feeling alone and helpless. After five years of battling her addiction, she was committed to staying clean and giving her children a better future. “I knew I wanted to make a change, but I didn’t know how,” says Gretel. “When I learned about Cope’s Home Visiting program, I signed up, hopeful that it would help me be a better parent. I started working with my home visitor right after Aiden was born and since then, she’s helped me turn my life around.”
Debbie also came to Cope because she wanted to be a better mom. Taking Cope’s parenting classes gave her tools to build a stronger relationship with her children and helped her realize she wasn’t alone. “When you talk to other parents going through similar struggles, you realize you aren’t the only one,” she said. “I think a lot of people feel alone. They feel like they aren’t a good parent but they may not want to ask for help because they feel like they should know what to do and are ashamed.” Cope helped Debbie realize that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. “What I realized is that we’re all learning. It’s important to be open about our struggles so we can support each other.”
Gretel and Debbie are just two of the almost 82,000 parents and caregivers that Cope has served over the past 50 years. “Over time, the needs of the community have changed, and our work has evolved to meet those needs,” said Grupe. “This has been possible because of the longstanding commitment of staff, Board members, donors and volunteers who understand the value of investing in this prevention work and are dedicated to building a strong and supportive community for children and families.”
Additionally, Grupe credits Cope’s innovation, flexibility, and culture for the nonprofit’s longevity and leadership in the community. “I had the pleasure of speaking to Linda (Thomas) Scott recently and it was heartening to hear how the culture of the organization and the overwhelming community involvement was present from the very beginning. We maintain many of the original values Linda and the volunteers put into place to be responsive to parent’s needs for support. We take great pride in being a fiscally responsible organization that invests in our staff and provides a supportive culture that fosters personal and professional growth and work/life balance.”
To raise funds for Cope’s continued work, Ambassador Kathryn Hall is hosting a fundraising gala at HALL Wines on June 25th. Ambassador Hall, a longstanding supporter of Cope, said “It is my great pleasure to be chairing and celebrating this important milestone. Cope has been working hard to protect our community’s children for the past 50 years and the gala will help ensure this critical work continues.” Contact Cope for information or to purchase tickets.
As Cope celebrates this golden anniversary and the people who made it possible, they invite anyone who has been involved with the organization over the past fifty years to contact them. “If you are a former employee, Board member, volunteer, or client, we would love to hear from you,” said Grupe. “We want to share the stories of the people who helped grow Cope from a small group of volunteers working around a kitchen table to a leader in the field of family support and child abuse prevention.” To share your story, please visit www.copefamilycenter.org/share-your-story or contact Development and Marketing Director Harmony Plenty at hplenty@copefamilycenter.org or 707.252.1123x115.