New NCFL podcast series highlights families’ power to create change in their communities through Family Service Learning

“Families are powerful. They do care. And they can support their children.” — That’s the message of the National Center for Families Learning’s new podcast series launching today.

NCFL is excited to announce our new podcast series, We the Family, aimed at shifting harmful narratives on economic mobility in America to showcasing the power of families’ voice and action in their communities. 

With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and through the “Community Voices” family leadership cohort, we partnered with families across the country to elevate their stories that highlight the power of community and share them in our podcast series, We the Family. 

Starting today through December, We the Family will publish weekly episodes, each highlighting the journey of a different family and how they improved their community through the process of NCFL’s Family Service Learning. 

Family Service Learning allows families to explore their strengths, learn and apply new academic and employability skills, envision solutions to community issues, and develop advocacy skills through community projects.

Episodes were recorded in participants’ heart language and each is available in Spanish and English. While this cohort featured all women, we look forward to experiences being shared from men as well.  

The NCFL Family Service Learning (FSL) model combines family learning with community service in an effort to build stronger communities by fostering leadership and advocacy skills for families. The NCFL Family Service Learning is a six-step process: (1) investigation, (2) planning and preparation, (3) action, (4) reflection, (5) demonstration of results and celebration, and (6) sustainability practices. FSL is an ideal vehicle for families to explore their strengths, envision solutions to community issues, conduct root-cause analysis, develop advocacy skills, and solidify and sustain new community partnerships. Parents and caretakers explore the dimensions of their power —as people who experience inequities and injustices and have ideas about what needs to change to create more equitable communities for themselves and other families.  Parents begin to see that their voice has the power to enact changes and improve their families and communities. 

Listen to We the Family on your favorite podcast network to hear the impact that these families made through their Family Service Learning projects in their communities.