Join the Avida Homepossible: Familyscape Conference

     We all know that family is the basic unit of the society. We all have families and the values that we have now started inside our family. Starting a family and building a home, while a joyful life milestone, can be daunting. But there are a lot of ways to nourish the homemaker in you so that you can start out strong.

     Discover the inspiring ways that empower lifestarters in Avida’s Homepossible: Familyscape conference, to be held on May28 at Fairmont Hotel, Makati City. The one-day conference aims to encourage family-oriented individuals to pursue a multi-faceted lifestyle in an enabling community, offering a 360-degree approach on gearing up with the essential skills and knowledge that can guide them on the journey to being a homemaker. More details about the conference below :)

Join the Avida Homepossible: Familyscape Conference

     Familyscape will be headlined by ANC’s On the Money host Edric Mendoza and WholeMomPH, composed of aspirational moms Chesca Kramer, Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio and Marilen Montenegro. Mendoza will talk about how lifestarters can effectively plan their financials.

     Meanwhile, the inspiring moms of WholeMomPh will cover topics ranging from creating a place that affects family dynamics to nurturing one’s inner self amidst all the demands and responsibilities of a homemaker.

     Familyscape is the second installment of Avida’s Homepossible conference series this year. Homepossible is part of Avida’s campaign that is all about encouraging people to pursue the life that they dream of.

     Be inspired to move in and move forward through Homepossible: Familyscape. Learn how you can start shaping the life you’ve envisioned for your own family by joining Homepossible: Familyscape. 

Pre-register and join the conference for free by visiting:

 http://www.avidaland.com/event/homepossible-familyscape

bit.ly/HPFamilyscape

About Avida Land

     An Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) subsidiary, Avida Land provides thoughtfully-designed yet affordable homes in secure communities that offer value for money and convenience all within reach. With the five pillars of accessibility, unique features and amenities, quality assurance, stress free buying and relaxing living experience integrated in all its condominium and house and lot properties, Avida Land has become the developer of choice among the rising middle class as it continues to expand its product offerings across the country.

The power of coming home

     From the small side streets to the country’s major highways, it’s almost a given nowadays for people to experience traffic—with a 30-minute ride turning into a nightmarish 2 hours, especially during the dreaded rush hours.

     Because of this, hardworking employees lose precious time. They get home too late for dinner. Worse, they would inevitably have less energy for family bonding. Consequently, family members seem to have less time to catch up on each other’s lives.

The power of coming home

     Such is unfortunate because according to a study conducted by Debra Manchester MacMannis, the author of the renowned “How’s Your Family Really Doing?”, family dinners play an important part in the development of both children and teenagers because the presence of a parent is pivotal in building them up to be better individuals. The study showed that sharing meals as a family has been found to give kids a boost in the classroom, improve language skills, increase communication, and overall promote better adjustment of kids.

     With a keen understanding of its employees and their needs outside of work, Del Monte Philippines launched an important corporate initiative--COME HOME TO FAMILY WEDNESDATES-- through which the company encouraged its Manila-based employees to leave the office no later than 6:00 PM at least once a week so they can have ample time to travel and make it home in time for family dinners. 

A testament to its success

     With the program in place for over a year now, Del Monte employees have consistently shared pleasant experiences resulting from the initiative.

     “At first there was a bit of hesitation from the employees. It was weird being asked to go home early for Wednesdates,” Gladys Chua, Accounts Payable Supervisor, shared, “but when we complied, we realized it had very positive results. By going home earlier, I realized I can avoid the traffic a bit, so I can get home in time to cook food for my son. Cooking for him and sharing our Wednesdates dinner has become some sort of mini- tradition for us now.”

     Walter Conti, Del Monte’s Customers Activation Manager, along with his wife and kid, has religiously spent Wednesdate with the family since the initiative was first launched. “We bond better now, and all of uslook forward to it. Along with encouraging us to go home early at least once a week, we also get proposed recipes from Del Monte Kitchenomics that we can prepare and share during our Family Wednesdates. We also enjoy taking pictures of our dinners together and posting them online.”

     Ryanne Villanueva, Del Monte’s Demand Management Head, is also a mother to a five year old. Having always relied on her nanny to prepare dinner for them, she shares that she’s able to personally prepare dinner for her child at least once a week. Sometimes, he even helps her out in the preparation. “It increases our bonding moments from the time we prepare to the time he goes to sleep,” she says. “It’s the type of policy that I think every other company should have. From the workforce perspective, work hours are deliberately maximized so employees can get out before 6:00 pm. In fact, I wish it wouldn’t be just Wednesdays, but everyday if possible. If we can do it on Wednesdays, we should be able to do it on other days.”

     “The advocacy may have started as a Del Monte Tomato Sauce campaign, but we at Del Monte Philippines are very deliberate about walking our talk.” Eileen Manuel-Asuncion, Group Head for Marketing explains. “When the campaign launched, we knew we cannot advocate once-a-week family date nights for Filipino families without deliberately espousing the same among our employees. Soon after, we implemented the 6:00 pm lights out at the Del Monte Manila offices. By 6:00 pm every Wednesday, everyone has to be out of the office so they can get home in time to be with their families.”

     As Del Monte employees can attest to, coming home to have dinner with the family—despite the challenges nowadays--is possible. Down the line, Del Monte hopes to do its part in helping strengthen family bonds over good meals across a broader scale--one Filipino home, one Filipino family at a time.