We're proud to share the story of PAN Cymru — Be Strong Families' first international affiliate. What began as a small coalition in Neath Port Talbot in 2020 has grown into a national movement, with Welsh Government funding and parents leading the way. This is how they did it.

Ask most parent leaders how they got started, and you'll hear the same thing: someone saw something in them before they saw it in themselves. Members of our National Parent Café Leadership Team share what brought them into leadership — and what keeps them coming back.

Guns are now the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in South Carolina. In partnership with the South Carolina Department of Public Health, we've adapted the Parent Café model to address gun safety and nonviolence, taking a two-generation approach.

When Mindie Bentcik relocated from Iowa to Idaho in 2018, she looked for Parent Cafés and found none. So she spent years advocating until she helped make them happen. Here's how one determined parent leader and a handful of local, committed organizations brought Parent Cafés to Idaho for the first time.

What does it look like when Parent Cafés truly take root in a state? In Missouri, it started with one bus of parents in St. Louis in 2013. Today, hundreds of parents across the state attend Cafés every year, supported by a statewide network of certified trainers, regional leadership teams, and a university-backed training partner program.

Most family support is delivered by professionals, but Parent Cafés were designed to flip that model. We explore how Cafés shift the social service paradigm by putting parents in the lead, building confidence and real-world skills while creating the kind of reciprocal community support that no program can manufacture.

What happens when suit-and-tie bureaucrats sit down with parents from the south side of Chicago? Or when foster parents and birth parents share a table? Magic, according to BSF. We explore how Parent Cafés quietly disrupt bias, shift power dynamics, and create genuine belonging, one conversation at a time.

Loneliness is a public health crisis, and Parent Cafés are part of the solution. We explore the connection between social isolation and family well-being, and why intentionally building social connections isn't just good for parents, it's good for all of us.

Interpersonal trauma is healed through corrective social experiences, which Parent Cafés were designed to create. In this installment of "Why Are Cafés So Great?", BSF CEO Kathryn Leigh Goetz makes the case for Cafés as a powerful, accessible space for healing trauma.