<div><p paraid="865394992" paraeid="{2079e448-83ef-4333-94ca-08e0932f2cb6}{163}"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:inherit;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">By: Haley Pierce, Manager, FMI Foundation </span></p></div><div><p paraid="14516712" paraeid="{34c86955-4910-4b85-8b1e-78750a4a1f30}{65}"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/david-as-keynote-speaker-at-nff-2024.tmb-large-350-.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=3fdefcdf_1" style="float:right;margin:10px;" alt="David as Keynote Speaker at NFF 2024" class="-align-right" sf-size="724482" /><span style="background-color:transparent;color:inherit;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">In early November, the FMI Foundation team attended the </span><a href="https://www.ffcmh.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;white-space:inherit;">National Federation of Families</a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:inherit;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">’ Annual Conference in Orlando, FL. In post-conference reflections after the event, my colleagues and I recognized how significant this conference is to their audience: a space that helps support families in crisis, indelibly affected by drug usage and mental health concerns. </span></p></div><div><p paraid="1419367479" paraeid="{2079e448-83ef-4333-94ca-08e0932f2cb6}{185}">The event was replete with personal experiences from family and peer support professionals from throughout the country—sessions serving as part support group, part workshop on best practices local organizations can utilize to encourage healthy relationships among family members. </p></div><div><p paraid="29507459" paraeid="{2079e448-83ef-4333-94ca-08e0932f2cb6}{201}">I was struck particularly by the range of experiences—people speaking about their own journeys of navigating the adoption process after recognizing a community need, all the way to those who’d struggled with and overcome mental health or substance use issues themselves. As a Foundation team, we were able to learn from these diverse lived experiences and gain inspiration to help families of all types, learning we can affect change one individual at a time. </p></div><div><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/imogen-and-haley-tabling-at-nff-2024.tmb-large-350-.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=930104ed_1" style="float:left;margin:10px;" alt="Imogen and Haley Tabling at NFF 2024" class="-align-left" sf-size="100" /><p paraid="1111903056" paraeid="{1dc575c6-4c42-48d1-b87f-3e553c06fa70}{4}">Amidst the exhibit hall and alongside our own Family Meals-branded oven mitts and cutting boards, the audience found value with our distilled message: to encourage families to have one more family meal per week. They knew, more than anyone else, what impact family meals can have on a family in crisis, encouraging more nutritious food consumed, a safe social space to talk about difficulties, and an overall sense of togetherness and belonging through food shared. </p></div><div><p paraid="215792898" paraeid="{1dc575c6-4c42-48d1-b87f-3e553c06fa70}{54}">Opportunities like this underscore the necessity of the Family Meals Movement, in helping folks from across the country build community and foster better interpersonal relationships. </p></div><div><p paraid="1553221738" paraeid="{1dc575c6-4c42-48d1-b87f-3e553c06fa70}{64}">As we get further and further into the holiday season, this should remain top-of-mind: no matter who you define as family, a family meal has innumerable positive mental health, emotional and nutritional benefits—and that these benefits can make a real impact on your chosen or given family. Our <a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals/toolkits" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Family Meals resources</a> are great sources for starting (or even continuing) the conversation on how to have just one more family meal a week. </p></div><div><p paraid="2051263700" paraeid="{1dc575c6-4c42-48d1-b87f-3e553c06fa70}{99}">I know firsthand this is a commitment I can make with my own chosen family. Why not yours too? </p><p paraid="2051263700" paraeid="{1dc575c6-4c42-48d1-b87f-3e553c06fa70}{99}"><a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals-movement" class="button">Family Meals Resources</a></p></div>
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