JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
The Family Life Program is one of several programs at the Military & Family Readiness Center that caters to the needs of military members and their families.
"We provide a robust program to help families gain a more fulfilling life in these stressful days," said Beatrice Castellano, FLP educator. "Our program offers a wide array of classes to help with parenting, relationship and life skills concerns."
Castellano is one of several FLP educators who teach classes throughout Joint Base San Antonio. Classes are offered at the Health and Wellness Centers on JBSA-Lackland and JBSA-Randolph as well as the military and family readiness centers at all three JBSA locations.
Areas of focus include stress, anger and time management, how to manage change and goal attainment.
Military parents have several class options to choose such as Scream Free Parenting, the Five Love Languages of Parenting Children with a second focus for Parenting of Teens and Positive Parenting.
The program also has a pregnancy and an early childhood focus with Bringing Baby Home, the HUGS Playgroup, infant massage, and a car safety seat clinic.
Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Travis Sparkman and his wife, Rüya Sparkman, recently attended the Bringing Baby Home class. They both agreed the class was very educational.
"There is a 12-year gap between our last child and this one, so it's like starting over," Sparkman said.
"We had complications with breast feeding our first child," he explained. "This class gave us a lot of good information that will hopefully make us successful with this baby."
First-time mother Allison Hayes also attended the class.
"I'm extremely anxious and nervous with everything," Hayes said. "Just being in a class with other first time and experienced moms has been very comforting for me."
In order to be consistent with the other JBSA safety seat clinics, FLP will implement a change to the safety seat program effective in August requiring parents to attend Bringing Baby Home if they are expecting a child or a parenting safety class if they have toddlers and older children who require safety seats.
For relationship concerns, FLP provides Scream Free Marriage, Five Love Languages for Couples, Couples Enrichment and Talk is Cheap. They also provide a class for singles called Dating 2.0 to help people avoid pitfalls in dating and focus on what fits their ideal in new relationships.
The program offers both Army and Air Force Master Resiliency Training for family members and civilians. They also conduct annual Army Domestic and Child Abuse Prevention Training, which meets the guidelines set forth in Army Regulation 608-18.
"Our educators are outstanding and provide the latest content available while staying true to the overall goal of improving military life through enhancement, enrichment and resilience," Castellano said.
Partnering with the Exceptional Family Member Program resulted in classes that are co-facilitated with EFMP staff and provide invaluable tools for special needs families.
For more information, call 221-0349.