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Get plugged into the latest Be Strong Families news, initiatives, and blog articles — all central to creating transformative conversations that nurture the spirit of family, promote well-being and prevent violence.
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Celebrating our Strengths and Building Equity Leadership
Be Strong Families staff and board came together for an in-person retreat October 19 and 20 in Lake County, IL. This is the first in-person staff-board retreat we have held in more than 6 years. The theme was “Be Strong Together: Celebrating our Strengths and Building Equity Leadership.”
Conversations for Your Thanksgiving Table
Gobble Gobble ya’ll: it’s the time of year again when families get together to eat, drink, watch football and parades, celebrate gratitude, and often, unfortunately … argue! Be Strong Families has a plan for that!
Sustaining Your Parent Cafés
Are you part of a robust Parent Café effort with a dynamic team of parents leading the Cafés and seats filled regularly? Is funding for your effort slated to expire? Be Strong Families would like to assist with ensuring that your Café effort continues to thrive. We want to be your partner in sustaining Cafés and will be available to collaborate on fundraising activities, evaluation efforts, and promotion. Let us know what you need…
New Protective Factors Resource for Children and the Adults Who Love Them
Be Strong Families is publishing an exciting new resource to assist parents with building Protective Factors with their children and in their families: it’s a coloring and activity book. It’s part of our Living the Protective Factors series — in it 5 children from very diverse cultural backgrounds navigate a week in their life building Protective Factors as they go…
Transitions at Be Strong Families
Since our last Revitalizer on May 4, we welcomed one new staff Taniella Bailey as Illinois DCFS Youth Advisory Board Program Coordinator, and two new members of the board of directors Joanne Kelly and Jimmy Wambua.
Parent Café Evaluation Highlights
Since Be Strong Families (BSF) first pioneered the Parent Café approach in 2007, hundreds of programs In the US and internationally have adopted the approach, reaching thousands of parents and families through deep, personal conversations designed to facilitate transformation and healing. In 2019 we started the National Parent Café Evaluation Project to be able to share the impact of Parent Cafés. Fifty-five percent of our partners participated in the National Parent Café Project. The following are key trends in data collected in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
The Impact of Environment and Climate Change on Early Childhood Development
When you look down the long road of history, it’s clear that humans have contributed to our changing climate and environment. The environment, which is so important to the quality of our life and for the well-being of the next generation, touches everyone — and we ignore the perils of climate change for the next generations at our own expense.
Foster Change, Foster Success
Walking into the room on Saturday, May 20th, there was excitement in the air. It was a feeling of guarded optimism. Tables had been set with beautiful flowers and a presentation of statements of appreciation from youth in care in Illinois to the people who had shown them care over the years. This event was meant to honor, acknowledge, and celebrate foster parents, and an opportunity to promote camaraderie amongst Youth in Care and Foster Parents.
Why Parent Cafés? Spotlight on Help Me Grow and Goal Concordant Care
How and why do organizations that serve families use Parent Cafés as a strategy for parent engagement? Often, it’s to create a solid foundation of partnership between staff and parents and among the parents in a program to advance other programmatic initiatives. In 2022, Be Strong Families joined…
Evanston Is Family Strong! Family Fun Fest
Be Strong Families’ first ever Family Fun Fest: Evanston is Family Strong! held on April 30, 2023 at the Robert Crown Community Center in Evanston, IL was a huge success with estimated more than 700 people attending, 33 community-based organizations participated in the resource fair …
Are you part of a robust Parent Café effort with a dynamic team of parents leading the Cafés and seats filled regularly? Is funding for your effort slated to expire? Be Strong Families would like to assist with ensuring that your Café effort continues to thrive. We want to be your partner in sustaining Cafés and will be available to collaborate on fundraising activities, evaluation efforts, and promotion. Let us know what you need…