Firstmark CU Gets Parents, Kids Talking

SAN ANTONIO - Firstmark CU is helping parents and children rediscover the art of conversation. The $461 million credit union has teamed up with Southwest Mental Health Center to promote the "15+ Make Time to Listen, Take Time to Talk" parent-child communication campaign. "We believe that children are our future and we work hard to provide them with good savings and financial education. We believe this sponsorship will help them develop better relationships with their families, too. Their health and well-being comes first," said Firstmark CU President/CEO Leon Ewing. "Everyone seems to have such busy lives, that making the time to have a real conversation everyday with a child or young adult is a skill we all could refine. We hope that by helping sponsor this new resource for the community, this partnership will have a strong positive impact on all our families." The program will air vignettes with questions for parents to use as a conversation-starter tool on local station News 9 San Antonio six times daily for a full year. Questions are designed so that both parents and children can initiate the conversation and are suited for adolescents, as well as younger children. Parents will be able to look for three new questions every week to use at home. The initiative is based on research that finds 15 minutes a day of good conversation between parents and their children can help kids be more resilient and successful in life.