Loving with Valerie Gray Jones

Chief Executive Officer of The Jones Family Charitable Fund, Social Service Leader, Black Health Care Coalition

By: Kenzie Eklund

Kenzie is a senior at the University of Missouri-Kansas City graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications with an emphasis in journalism and mass communication. She began her work with RaisingKC through an opportunity within her Capstone course and continued her role on the team through an internship. With a degree in communications, Kenzie says that she has been able to apply all of the wonderful information RaisingKC has to offer within her role as a nanny, as well as relationships she has with other adults. 

How does love help an adult connect with a child?

• Setting limits is part of love.
• A child needs to know what the boundaries are.
• When life is predictable, a child feels safe.
• A child knows that an adult will be there, no matter what happens, with unconditional love.
• A child builds self-acceptance and tolerance through unconditional love.

What to do:

• Loving looks different for each child. Communicating with children to determine how they best receive love is important to ensuring that they feel the love you are trying to share.

Why it matters:

• One of the most important aspects of any relationship with children is making sure they feel loved. Having conversations to make sure that the child is receiving love the way you are intending helps to ensure affection and belongingness. 

One big takeaway: 

• When we’re talking about building relationships with young people, we have to figure out and help them understand that they matter, their feelings matter and the things that are going on in their lives matter