CENTER – SLV Area Extension Youth Specialist Carol Gurule recently held the Colorado State University San Luis Valley Area Extension Office’s 6-week program of Strengthening Families, “Familias Fuertes,” in Center Colorado at the Center Consolidated School District. 

Gurule stated that she hadn’t held a class in Center ever, and she felt the families who attended were in need and would succeed from all that they learned. 

“I felt like there was just a big need there. The families that came needed this the most. I was so appreciative that I could help and bring this to the community. Nearly 10 families completed the program. There were families with different backgrounds, broken families. There were families with drug use, alcohol use, and abuse. These families really needed the work. These were families that were in danger of losing each other, and I feel like the program helped strengthen their bonds and put a lot of what was broken back together. I am so grateful that I was able to help them,” she said.  

Gurule has been a part of the CSU SLV Area Extension Office and the Strengthening Families program for a couple of years now. The families meet one night a week for two hours during the six-week program. Hour one, parents and their children will separate but work on similar skills. Hour two, families get together and have fun, they play games and work on family projects.  

Youth and parent sessions while apart include discussions, group skills practices, and games, video presentations, and skill building activities. 

Each night, the meetings will begin with a free family meal. There is also free childcare for younger siblings. 

For parents, areas of work will be helping parents set appropriate limits for youth, motivating children to apply good behavior skills, protecting against risks in youth, and sharing expectations with youth.  

For youth there will be goal setting skills, stress management skills, parent appreciation skills, understanding and following rules, and becoming resistant to peer pressures.  

Gurule stated that the group she worked with in Center spoke a lot about what they were currently going through and what they needed help with. 

“They identified themselves with these specific needs and then you could see them working on things. You could see the light in their eyes when I talked to them about skills and goals, and about how to improve their home lives. This group of people was so amazing. They really wanted and needed the help,” she said.  

Gurule stated that the group was dedicated. She said the entire group worked at different jobs, from warehouses to steel mills, and they were dedicated to the program. 

“You could see many of them coming in from just getting out of work. These were dedicated people who really wanted the program to help them with change in their lives. This is what the program is all about, teaching these good life skills, these positive skills and trying to engage families, and keep them together. We want to see united, bonded families, we want to repair families that are broken. This is so important, sustainability for families and helping to maintain their strengths and bonds together is everything,” she said.  

Gurule stated one of the things that touched her heart was watching the families all sit at a table and eat together. She stated that as she had dinner with the families for the first time, she could feel the emotion and tears coming to her eyes, because that’s what keeping families together was truly all about, seeing them together, seeing them eating and being together. She was proud to be a part of helping these families mend and push forward with unity.  

Gurule said she felt good about providing baskets for the families too, with crayons and notepads, and s’mores and little things that the families could enjoy doing together, that were positive and uplifting. 

She said it was nice to see such dedication in the class, whether the members of the class had to come in right after work, or had to be picked up, they all seemed very happy to take the class and to be involved in everything. Gurule was grateful that she chose to teach the program in Center and to help people who were in need.  

For more information on the Strengthening Families course, contact Gurule at the CSU Sa Luis Valley Area Extension Office at 719- 852-7381.