Parenting skills are often developed through trial and error. The South Alabama Club is determined to give parents more skills to do the hard work of parenting. By offering weekly empowerment groups conducted by trained family counselors, the Club is helping parents identify and practice effective parenting styles.

The parenting sessions focus on helping parents build lifelong positive relationships with their children by speaking effectively, listening carefully, asking questions and being consistent. Parents and guardians participate in the program through an order by the Juvenile Court of Mobile County. Even though the parents’ participation begins as a mandatory court requirement, the sessions evolve into growth sessions that many say help them develop as parents and as individuals. Participants leave the program feeling better about their ability to parent. They also feel they are giving their children something their parents often did not give them: a role model of a good mom or dad.

The South Alabama Club is strengthening its community one parent at a time.