CASERMA EDERLE -- Building resilient families is a priority in the Army, and U.S. Army Garrison Italy is embracing the challenge with the Strong Families Initiative announced at the Feb. 3 Information Exchange at The Arena here.
The initiative is a three-part program designed to build healthy and resilient families in the Vicenza Military Community by encouraging family participation in activities and events. Julia Sibilla, director, Army Community Service here, said the program is in line with the command�er's vision for what the garrison should be doing to help Soldiers and families become stronger and thrive in the community.
"This did not come down from Department of the Army," Sibilla said. "This is grassroots, a 'USAG Italy let's take care of our Soldiers and families' initiative. We are going to do this together, we are going to help our families one by one, have fun, work together, play together, and do things a little bit better."
The first phase of the initiative, welcoming families into the community, is something that's already being done, but the garrison team is going to step it up a notch. Every second and fourth
Tuesday of each month at 5 p.m., the garrison commander and his team will meet with newcomers at the Ederle Inn for an introduction, quick overview of services, and the opportunity for people to ask questions of the professionals in attendance. Light refreshments will be available. The invitation is extended to newcomers staying at local hotels off the installation as well. Community members and sponsors are encouraged to spread the word about the informal meeting.
Phase two, Sibilla said, is considered the "fun phase" of the initiative. In the spirit of reality TV challenges, this phase implements a 60-day challenge that encourages and fosters strong families by way of family participation in a variety of healthy, productive and positive activities.
"The 60-day challenge encourages families to do things together by utilizing all of the great programs and services we already have in place. It's just packaged a bit differently," said Sibilla.
Families (more than one person) must register at any of the registration points--the post library, ACS in Building 108, or at Child and Youth Services. Registration takes only a few minutes and in-volves filling out a form with family information and taking a quick survey. Afterwards, participants should look for the Strong Families Initiative logo around the installation, which will indicate a program, activity, or service that can be counted in the challenge.
During the 60-day period, the challenge is to participate in as many of the 200 offered events as you can. Examples of Strong Family activities can be broken into four groups: physical, cultural, spiritual/emotional, and miscellaneous. For example, doing something physical could be going on a bike ride together or attending an Outdoor Recreation trip; for cultural, go to a museum together, visit a new city or town, or watch a movie; for spiritual/emotional, attend a yoga or arts & crafts class, or participate in a service project together; and for miscellaneous, host another family for dinner or play a family board game. The opportunities are limitless.
"Even if you already do these things in your family, we are trying to have people think about their relationships with loved ones and have a more targeted approach to spending quality time together," Sibilla said.
So how does a family prove they have participated in an event? They must take a photo with the logo during the activity, Sibilla said, sort of like a "Flat Stanley" project. Being creative with the photos is another way to make the initiative more fun. When participating in one of the formal activities such as a class, make sure to have the participation card stamped at the activity.
The final phase is a Strong Families Summit. The summit is a one- to two-day education summit for families to learn, grow and develop. There will be classes and lectures with topics such as par-enting, marriage enhancing, and relationship building. The summit will include a keynote speaker as well.
At the February Information Exchange, Garrison Commander Col. Steve Marks spoke about the program and encouraged families to participate.
"In the OCONUS environment, the garrison becomes that surrogate family that families need. The ACS is an 'emergency room' where families can go to get treatment," he said. "The Strong Families Initiative is an effort to build and sustain strong families in our community."
Phase 1 begins March 1, and registration takes place March 1-8. Subsequent season dates will be announced.
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