An Interview with Martha Alvarez

Beginnings of Chances for Children

Risa:  When did you first start working for Chance for Children?

Martha:  When the program started in 2000, Hillary and Liz approached different high schools that had nurseries. I was a social worker back then in one of the schools. My school was chosen to be a pilot project. So, I really started when it (Chances for Children) started. We sort of started together. Hillary came to my school and she trained me, and now twenty-two years later I am still called “La Madrina.”

Risa:  During those beginning days what was it like? How was it building this program?

Martha:  Putting a program together is so courageous - it had so many components. Liz and Hillary had a lot of courage and vision. They connected with the right people at the LYFE Program (Living for the Young Family Through Education) through the Department of Education. At that time the leadership of that program said “yeah, come let’s do this together,” that’s the first component. The second component is when you start something new, you’re not really sure about it, so I think that trying it out with the moms in the schools with babies they were able to solidify their footing in terms of the protocols.

For me, I was a social worker with the DOE and was constrained in that I worked with the mothers and not the babies. So, I had never really worked with the parent-child dyad. What Liz and Hillary did was speak about clinical work and attachment theory and they helped us put the mom and baby in the room together, which is the crux of the whole thing. To do parent-child interventions you have to have the parent and the child.

I was immensely grateful because what Hillary was providing was real clinical training - really looking into theory and practice. Little by little we started adding more aspects to the program, like groups with the moms. Before you can walk you have to crawl. And all that work created the amazing program that Chances for Children is now.

We had great support from the beginning - especially from foundations, and it allowed the moms to not have to worry about payments and insurance.

Risa:  Did you see a difference in the progress with mom and child when you switched to dyadic work?

Martha:  By working with the parent-child dyad, I was able to impact or penetrate their shared experience and to help them see the strength that they had. I remember so many girls (young moms) said “wow I didn’t know he could do that.”  Taking videos of the mom and baby together and then watching them and observing or thinking together, they noticed things they didn’t know they did or recognized how their baby looked at them. Of course, it changed my perspective of parent and child relationships, and it changed the depth of my clinical work.

Risa:  I am a first-time mom and I know for me working at Chances for Children has already shaped me as a mother and even how I view motherhood, when you started doing dyadic work did It also shape your view of yourself as a mom?

Martha:  Yes, of course!  Because one of the first things that we did with a new family was to video mom and baby, I started out viewing life through a viewfinder and I began to see differently. My eye got trained in such a way that I could pick up things, could see more things and I became more perceptive. Even on the subway, I would notice movements and exchanges between parents and children.

My children are older, but when we say follow the lead of the child, I began to do that with my children. I allowed my children to lead and when something happened with my daughter, I waited to see how she would deal with things instead of telling her what to do. It made me pause in my own life with my own kids. Now I am a grandma, and I am helping my son with following the lead of his child and the importance of playing with his baby. So, it is intergenerational. My whole life changed.

Risa:  Working here there is a strong family dynamic, did that start from the beginning?

Martha:  When you start something right, then it’ll go right. If there is a crack in the foundation the building will tilt or fall. Hillary and Liz had, from the beginning, this amazing and kind way of being with people and paying attention to YOU.

One of the philosophies is that if you “mother” the mother, then you can mother the child.  And if you “father” the father, then you can father the child. So that is what Liz and Hillary did with us. They were “motherlike,” very patient and they listened. Liz and Hillary were there, and they were constant. They were positive. Everything was eye to eye; it wasn’t top down. We all worked together - we were a cohesive group. That’s how they created this!

Martha still keeps in touch with the moms from the beginning of this program - they all still show gratitude for the impact of this program on their lives. “We still have that Chances for Children connection even after 22 years.  I love this program, it has done so much good for so many families” she says.