Back-to-School festival aims to strengthen families

Back-to-school festivals often celebrate students’ return to the classroom, building excitement for the coming year. Evanston’s second annual Family Fun Fest, however, presented resources for parents and guardians, highlighting the event’s central theme: strengthening families.

From noon to 4 p.m., on Aug. 17, the Robert Crown Community Center hosted the Back to School Family Fun Fest, sponsored by Be Strong Families and the City of Evanston. The event was a celebration of the diversity, spirit and strength of Evanston families and honored the late Dr. Marjorie Fujara, a child-abuse prevention pediatrician who strongly advocated for parent engagement. 

Outside, was a live DJ and free burgers, hot dogs, watermelon, chips, cookies and refreshments. Within the community center were art projects, face painting, family portraits and food giveaways. Twenty-four organizations had tables set up at Saturday’s resource fair, each with giveaways and information about their respective services.

Renewed partnership

Last year’s event was held in April, Child Abuse Prevention Month, and while they could not repeat it this year, the city and Be Strong Families agreed to continue their partnership and host a back-to-school fest.

The event, which also focuses on addressing food insecurity and food injustices, is set for every August at Robert Crown Community Center. To help families with food insecurity, Be Strong Families raffled over $1,000 in grocery cards and partnered with Target, Whole Foods and D&D Finer Foods to prepare treats.

While there were plenty of activities for children, many of the organizations at the resource fair presented information and support for parents and caregivers.

Sarita Sashington, director of engagement and program initiatives for Be Strong Families, said the event is as much for parents as for kids.

This is part of Be Strong Families’ wider mission to inform guardians about protective factors to help strengthen families and keep children safe.

Sashington said the organization is known for its Parent Cafés, small, intimate conversations for parents focused on five protective factors: resilience, relationships, knowledge, concrete support and communication. Sashington said the cafés are hard to explain, but “when you experience one, it’s absolutely life-changing.”

“When parents have those factors operating, they have stronger tools to be more effective parents,” Sashington said. 

Many organizations represented

Sashington and Be Strong Families highlighted the factors at Saturday’s resource fair. As attendees came in, they received a protective factor bingo card, and as they visited the tables, each with an assigned protective factor, they got stickers. Once they completed five in a row, they could go to the Be Strong Families resource table for a prize. 

Maryville Crisis Nursery, Wintrust Bank, The Cradle, Illinois Student Assistance Commission, Evanston School District 65, NAACP Evanston, The Aux Evanston, City of Evanston voter registration and Evanston Grows were the organizations assigned “concrete support.” Sokana Collective, Illinois Department of Children & Family Services, Evanston Early Childhood Council and Childcare Network of Evanston represented “resilience.”

Evanston Cradle to Career, McGaw YMCA and Family Focus Evanston were assigned “relationship.” Erie Family Centers Evanston/Skokie, Open Communities, Youth Job Center and Youth Opportunity United made up the “knowledge” factor. Be Strong Families, Moran Center, State Senator Laura Fine and Birth to Five Illinois comprised “communication.”

Kathryn Goetz, president and chief executive of Be Strong Families, said she estimates 600 to 700 families attended on Saturday. “Strengthening families is an evergreen topic,” Goetz said, and relayed the importance of parents and their access to necessary resources for child development.

“Research shows parents are critical to children’s academic success and parents are their children’s first teachers,” Goetz said. “It’s a stressful time of the year for parents as well and we want to do anything we can do to lighten it and help out.”

Helping parents

Patrick Keenan-Devlin, executive director and youth defense attorney for the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy, agreed with Goetz about the importance of helping parents. He said caring for a child starts by caring for the parents and guardians.

“We represent families in eviction proceedings, so we’re not representing a child in that preceding, we’re representing their caregiver. But if we stave off an eviction for that tenant, we preserve that housing for the child as well,” Keenan-Devlin said.

The Moran Center provides integrated legal mental health and restorative justice services for youth, emerging adults and their families in the community. Keenan-Devlin said people in poverty on average experience 1.2 legal cases. He said Moran is proud to offer free legal services to address family crises.

All of the legal aid organization’s services are focused on mental health care and restorative justice practices. It represents children and emerging adults in criminal proceedings and in special education school discipline proceedings.

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