This is for everyone doing the real, messy, beautiful, heavy work of supporting families. BSF's Robyn Harvey writes with honesty as a mother, grandmother, leader, and human, about the weight she carries and why she needs this movement just as much as she helps build it.

In 2019, BSF trained 1,500 people across 25 states, collected feedback from nearly 2,500 Café participants, and welcomed new Certified Training Partners. A look back at a landmark year for the Parent Café movement.

United Planning Organization (UPO), based in Washington D.C., are dedicated to being change agents by offering services in early education, youth, community wellness, and more to the community that surrounds them. UPO shares what happened when they brought Parent Cafés to their community — including 98% of participants saying they'd recommend it to a friend and an Early Intervention Program that liked it so much they adopted the model.

Be Strong Families has been hosting Parent Cafés and teaching others how to host them since we began in 2012. Our original Parent Café deck of questions was bilingual, in Spanish and English. As we've evolved, we've worked with communities to translate Be Strong Families Parent Cafés into other languages and to develop Parent Café decks specific to cultural needs.

Two hours into a Parent Café on trusting relationships, two participants remarked it was the first time in weeks they had truly felt heard. A facilitator from The Matthews House in Colorado reflects on what safety and belonging make possible when parents are finally given space to tell their stories.

Regional Parent Engagement Advisory Groups (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. Meet the parents behind three RPEA Groups in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Chicago, sharing their Protective Factor stories, their goals, and what drives them to keep showing up for their communities.

Maryville Academy has launched Parent Cafés in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, offering families dinner, childcare, and a safe space for peer-to-peer connection. Here's how the Augustus Tolton Peace Center is becoming a hub for family strengthening.

What happens when Parent Cafés take root in Kibera, Nairobi, with no outside funding and a community determined to grow? BSF CEO visited the Soweto Forum Parent Café teams in 2018 and found the Protective Factors alive, well, and expanding into micro-enterprise.

As key players in New York’s City’s first primary prevention initiative, the Be Strong Families East Team headed out to New York City in November to introduce the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors framework and Parent Cafés.