The Department of Human Services will host family life conferences in celebration of National Family Month. The St. Thomas conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at the Marriott’s Frenchman’s Reef Beach Resort; the St. Croix conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the Divi Carina Bay Resort.
Hosted by Human Services’ Family Assistance program, the event is designed to provide workshops and panel discussions to address social ailments in and propose solutions for the modern day family. Some of the topics include identifying gang involvement in children, the changing values in Caribbean families, and healing homes and families. Participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are encouraged to attend.
A family walk-a-thon will also take place on Saturday, Oct. 23, on St. Thomas from the Fort Christian parking lot to Brewers Beach. The Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP) will co-host another walk-a-thon Saturday, Oct. 30, which will begin at Plaza West in Estate Plessen and continue to Midre Cummings Park in Frederiksted, St. Croix. Both events will begin at 6 a.m.