In a way, what I’m feeling currently is the most gratifying stage since beginning the parenting journey with my wife. To boil it all down, parenting is hard and tiring, and when your kid is really struggling, it’s hard to know what to do.

For the past three years, we have been hosting Cafés in the Kane County Adult Justice Center through the Changing Children’s Worlds Foundation. Four times a year, we facilitate a 10-12-session parenting program that begins with a Café to set the tone for engaging people and creating a space where they want to show up and share. Without having those Cafés, I know we’d have only a few graduates.

On March 13-14, 2019, teams from Be Strong Families, NorthEast Treatment Centers, and the Greater Tilton Area Family Resource Center met to begin the process of co-creation. Over the course of the two days, we used Appreciative Inquiry to uncover our positive core and discover the best of what is—the strengths, wisdom, experience, passion, expertise, training, and skills that each team member and organization brings to the process. Building on these strengths, we began to dream about the future.

This week, we are highlighting the work of the Be Strong Families Regional Parent Engagement Advisory Groups (RPEAs). RPEAs are made up of parents who are ready to be the architects of change in the lives of children and families who have been trained in Parent Cafés and are committed to building Protective Factors.

“Obras son Amores No Buenas Razones” (Deeds Speak Louder than Words) … my mom, Ana Maria Gomez, used to say emphatically to my siblings and me a lot! I am a father who doesn’t say much, talk a lot about love, or expresses how much I love my family and friends… But oh man, do I enjoy it every time my wife or my children or my friends tell me they love me!

"Obras son Amores No Buenas Razones” ... solía decirnos mi mamá, Ana María Gómez enfáticamente a mí y a mis hermanos, ¡mucho!. Soy un papá que no dice mucho, que no habla mucho sobre el amor o que no expresa lo mucho que ama a su familia y amigos ... ¡Pero vaya que lo disfruto cada vez que mi esposa o mis hijos o amigos me dicen que me aman!

Last year, Be Strong Families served as the pilot for our new Journey to Vitality Workplace Wellness Program. Our Vitality Cafés grew out of a realization, developed after hosting hundreds of Parent Cafés, that a healthy family is the foundation for a strong family. In Parent Cafés, we talk about the importance of taking care of yourself – putting on your own oxygen mask so that you can be well for yourself, your children, and your family. In Vitality Cafés, we address taking care of yourself across 6 Vitality Domains – physical, mental & emotional, spiritual, financial, environmental, and social, which work together to support each person’s vitality.

On this, a nationally recognized “day of love,” I sit here to acknowledge that my definition of love has been expanded beyond recognition this year. I have seen unfold before my eyes as many versions of love as there are songs with it in the lyrics. The center of my learning, growth and personal capacity expansion has been cultivated at one of the locations where we serve group homes of youth in care.

What do you get when you bring together local artists sharing songs, rap lyrics and poetry about truth, respect and unity, and small, intimate table conversations centered around peace, justice and racial healing? Answer: You get an outpouring of folks from all walks of life culminating in a safe, welcoming space where people authentically share their lived experiences, hopes and dreams for A More Perfect Union!

El equipo de Abrazando Diversidad es la fuerza principal en los esfuerzos de Be Strong Families para modelar la inclusión, honrar la diversidad y promover la equidad y la justicia social en toda la organización al brindar servicios en otros idiomas; desarrollar/adaptar entrenamientos y otros recursos que se sientan auténticos y que respondan a diferentes poblaciones; así como el comunicarse abiertamente unos a otros y con los padres al reunirse con ellos donde ellos se encuentran.

The Abrazando Diversidad (Embracing Diversity) team is the main force in Be Strong Families' efforts to model inclusion, honor diversity, and promote equity and social justice throughout the organization by providing services in other languages; developing / adapting trainings and other resources that feel authentic and responsive to different populations; as well as communicating openly with each other and with parents to meet people where they are.