A Northside Houston collaboration for strengthening the human family.

Join us for an upcoming Café: 

February 21, Adoptive Parents
7 - 9 pm at Northside Episcopal 
Join us for this in-person Café about nurturing adult connections to keep the family well.

Adoptive Parents can also join an online cafe on the last Saturday of the month starting in March, 4-5 pm.
Reach out to us to get the sign in link and more information

Community Cafés are a gift to the greater Northside community by Northside Episcopal Church. We work in partnership with Northside
groups and institutions who also have a mission to keep our community — its families and youth — well.

Schools, non-profits, and even small organizations can partner to implement COMMUNITY CAFÉS to strengthen those they serve or support. Our vision is a community of wellness built of its own strength. 

What is a COMMUNITY CAFÉ?

It is a meaningful gathering of three-hours with a thematic focus such as
parenting or personal wellness in the elder years. The COMMUNITY CAFÉ provides a safe space for peer-to-
peer learning through topical conversation over coffee and more. The offering is built on the research-based
Parent Café model proven to yield specific and measurable results.

What might result?

Based on the certified Parent Café model supported by Be Strong Families since 2007,
the COMMUNITY CAFÉ collaboration in Northside could expect to help increase:

• Individual & family resilience
• Listening skills
• Knowledge of human and/or child development
• Concrete support in times of need
• Social and emotional competence
• Quality of family and community interactions/relationships
• Social connections and cross-ethnic interactions

“I am blessed to be able to pay my bills, but the exhaustion and sometimes
loneliness of being an adoptive family with special needs is hard to remedy even
with God’s abiding. When I left the Parent Café, I was at peace and no longer
running on fumes. I knew I had experienced something that had to be shared.”
– Rev. Carissa Baldwin-McGinnis, Vicar of Northside Episcopal Church and Café director

FAQs

•  How does it work?
  The Community Café team at Northside Episcopal will help the host organization to: clarify its goals, identify its
  focal audience or guest list, select a theme or focus, create and extend invitations, and prepare the Community
  Café workshop itself. The Northside Episcopal team will facilitate cafés for a partner organization, where that is
  needed and prefers to co-faclitate with staff or volunteers from the host organization when possible.
  
  
• What is needed?
  An accessible location
  A three-hour time block
  A comfortable, confidential space
  5 or more guest participants
  Coffee, tea, and refreshments
  Clean and accessible restrooms
  
  
• Does it cost money?
  No, there is no out-of-pocket cost to partners wishing to host one or more Community Cafés. Northside Episcopal
  has raised funds to pay for café promotion, supplies and refreshments during the start-up phase in 2024. When
  possible the host organization provides the space and set-up needed for a successful café.
  
  
• Does the host or partner organization charge participants?
  No. Because the COMMUNITY CAFÉ collaboration is a gift and offering to the community, Northside Episcopal
  and its COMMUNITY CAFÉ initiative do not allow partners to charge entry or participation fees.
  
  
•  Is this a religious thing? What is the real agenda?
  Community Café is a secular engagement based on a replication of the Parent Café by Be Strong Families which
  has never had any religious affiliation, motivation, or content. The agenda is to strengthen people and families in
  ways that increase social connections and access to resources.
  
  
•  How do I know this is quality?
  The effectiveness of the Parent Café model on which the COMMUNITY CAFÉ collaboration has been
  demonstrated in over a decade of experiential evidence in communities in the US and abroad as well as by
  independent evaluation and research.
  
  
•  Why not offer small groups ourselves?
  To ensure gatherings have the ability to yield the results described above, they must conform to the certified
  model developed by Be Strong Families. The benefit to partnering with the COMMUNITY CAFÉ pilot in greater
  Northside is that its staff leader has been trained and certified in the Parent Café model. This certification is the
  guarantee that the quality and outcomes of the Café events will be built in to the any café event.
  
  
• When did this initiative begin in Northside?
  We offered several Cafés in 2024 and are currently building more partnerships in 2025 to strengthen our collective life together; to thrive not just survive.