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.

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.

More than 850 people filled the Robert Crown Community Center for our 3rd Annual Evanston is Family Strong Back to School Family Fun Fest. We gave away 1,000 backpacks, 500 books, and a whole lot of joy. Here's a look at the day that reminded us what community really looks like.

When schools partner with families, students thrive. We're working with school districts across Illinois to bring Parent Cafés into Parent University programs — training parent leaders, building community, and making engagement accessible to every family regardless of language or background.

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.

A clickbait headline about what "successful" parents do differently turned out to reveal something more important: whose families research actually centers, and whose it leaves out. Alexis Moreno reflects on growing up in a lower-income household and what it really looks like to build a strong family without the assumed resources.

Family means something different to everyone. Hear from our Board of Directors — researchers, social workers, educators, and community leaders — on what family truly means to them: personal, expansive, and rooted in the belief that strong families are the foundation of healthy communities.

In November, BSF's Katthe traveled to Nairobi to participate in Harambee Toto — a collective impact initiative focused on early childhood education, community development, and Parent Cafés in Kibera. The trip's centerpiece was a full cultural adaptation of the café model, now called Kikao Cha Wazazi — the sitting of the parents.