: First Baptist Church Pastor Luis Hernandez was recognized as the 2020 First Things First La Paz/Mohave Region Champion for Young Children during the Father’s Day service at his Lake Havasu City church June 21, 2020. Pictured from left: First Things First Regional Director Vijette Saari, Hernandez, and First Things First La Paz/Mohave Regional Partnership Council member Margee Chieffo.
LAKE HAVASU CITY – First Baptist Church Pastor Luis Hernandez of Lake Havasu City has been named the 2020 First Things First La Paz/Mohave Region Champion for Young Children.
The award is given to local champions who actively volunteer their time to raise public awareness of the importance of early childhood development and health. Champions spend a significant amount of time volunteering with FTF and building public awareness about the importance of early childhood issues.
Hernandez was surprised with the award during the Father’s Day service at his church where his message focused on restorative parenting and using positive reinforcement when building relationships with children. FTF La Paz/Mohave Regional Partnership Council member Margee Chieffo said that Hernandez frequently uses his pulpit to help parents and the community at-large understand the importance of supporting families and providing children with stable, nurturing environments.
In addition to being a pastor, Hernandez has worked for eight years with the Arizona Department of Child Safety as a case manager, investigator, and program specialist. The families he works with experience various struggles and challenges, including grandparents who have taken on the role of parenting young children for the first time in decades. Hernandez said it is especially important for caregivers to understand the importance of the first five years in a child’s life.
“The first five years are the most formative years, developing a foundation that will set the stage for the child’s future growth and development,” he said. “This is also the time when children are most vulnerable and need the protection and provision of adults to provide, guide, and nurture. These two facts alone show the great importance of proactive and appropriate services and interventions for families with young children.”
Chieffo said that Hernandez has also been an invaluable resource for linking social service providers throughout the region with early childhood professionals to help understand and mitigate the impacts of stress on the developing brains of at-risk and vulnerable children.
“He’s taken sadness and turned it into a tool to educate those who work with young children and bring light into these families,” she said.
Hernandez said that everyone has a role to play in supporting children to help build stronger families and a healthier community.
“It doesn’t matter what role you have in our community, you are tied to young children at some point,” he said.
He encouraged parents to take advantage of services available to help them with their growing children such as pediatricians, WIC, Arizona Early Intervention Program, Head Start, and the Birth to Five Helpline (877-705-5437). Grandparents can help reinforce the value of cognitive and language development by reading to their grandchildren and engaging them in developmental activities such as gross motor play and fine motor skills practice such as counting and sorting or using crayons and safety scissors. Extended family can provide important support to young families and ensure stability.
Neighbors can help support young children by being aware of the neighborhood and watching for threats and dangerous situations, offering support to struggling families and volunteering to read to children in schools or churches. And everyone can help promote safe sleep for babies by following the ABCs: Alone, on their back and in a crib.
“We all have the opportunity to touch the lives of children,” Hernandez said. “And when we do, we make our community better and ensure our families are stronger and healthier.”
