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.

On August 15, 2018, the Philadelphia Department of Human Services held their fourth annual Strengthening Families Summit, which debuted this video introducing Parent Cafés from the perspective of parent leaders.

"You are only as sick as your secrets." BSF's Kathryn Leigh Goetz explores what it means to truly listen to yourself and why Cafés create the conditions for the kind of honesty that leads to real change.

In July 2018, Be Strong Families started a year-long strategic planning process using appreciative inquiry, under the expert leadership of Yoland Trevino, founder of Transformative Collaborations International. The power of appreciative inquiry is that it taps into the stories of what an organization’s members believe is best and how those stories can be used to create new futures for the organization.

¡Es maravilloso y muy significativo para mí el tener la oportunidad de promover los Factores de Protección e impactar la vida de otras personas a través de entrenamientos, Cafés para Padres, conferencias, talleres, etc. El ser una persona inclusiva y el poder asistir a otros grupos con diferentes lenguajes, y culturas en el mundo es también parte de mi sueño!

It is wonderful, and very significant for me, to have the opportunity to promote the Protective Factors and to touch other people’s lives through trainings, Parent Cafés, conferences, workshops, etc. Being inclusive and assisting other language groups, cultures in the world is also part of my personal dream.

Vanessa Banks lost her children, her home, and nearly her hope. What brought her family back together wasn't a magic wand — it was the Protective Factors, activated one hard-won step at a time. This is her story.

How does the way we were parented shape our ability to be intimate, to connect, to love? BSF CEO explores Adult Attachment Disorder and how living the Strengthening Families Protective Factors can offer a path toward healing and stronger family relationships.

After two decades as a foster parent, Robyn Harvey confesses — she wasn't always a good one. Her reflection on empathy, shame, and the relationships that make foster care work is a must-read for anyone who cares about keeping families together.

Growing up as the white sibling of a Black brother didn't just change Jessie Schrantz's family; it changed her. Her reflection on transracial adoption challenges us to examine how whiteness shapes the experience of multiracial families and what radical, anti-racist love actually looks like in practice.