Other/Prior Family University Foundation Programs

    MOMS THAT MATTER . . . Turning Our Values into Movies


    Most films today are inspired from by stories already embraced by the mainstream culture. Ninety per cent of today’s movies come from video games, true stories, popular books, theme park rides, comic books, and TV characters. When a book – in this case a children’s or family-friendly book – makes it to the New York Times Best Seller list, it signals to the movie studio that this story is ready for prime time. This is a story that the families in America want to see in the movie theater!

    MOMS THAT MATTER coordinated the book-buying power of 5,000 everyday moms to turn stories of great value into national bestsellers, positioning them to be made into entertaining movies that shape the ideas and values of our next best generation.

    Michelle Borquez, Mom No. 1" and President of Moms That Matter said, "There is no bigger screen and no bigger story than the one that is told on the big screen. When my children watch a movie at the theater, the story and the values it teaches becomes larger than life. I want to make sure that the right stories -- stories that reinforce family values, illustrate good choices, and encourage self esteem -- are making their way to those big screens for our children.

    Successful Relationships and Parenting Classes - Lancaster/Palmdale, CA


    Keep working on your marriage and parenting skills because... ...no one marries to divorce...but it happens! ...no one wants their child to go wrong...but it happens! ...successful marriages and families just don't happen!

    The courses are a series of 3, 12-week sessions, 2 hours per session, presented for $10 per individual and $15 per couple. A course can be entered at anytime.

    Attendance requirements for participants needing a letter of successful completion for county child and famly services or the courts are as follows: Must complete the 12 week attendance requirement within a 16 week period from the first day of attendance. An additional 4 weeks attendance is required if this condition is not met. If the attendance requirements are not met within 20 weeks, then the participant must start the cycle over. For classes canceled by Family University Foundation participants are not responsible regarding the attendance requirements. Classes can be canceled because of holidays or the personal schedule conflicts of the presenter.

    For those requiring a letter of attendance from time to time, the letters are without charge. If a letter of successful completion is required, it is also without charge. Please note that such individuals must have successfully completed the required attendance and demonstrated attentive participation during the course.

    Foundation presentation materials are driven by the latest research and information. The foundation is very careful to remain politically and religiously generic, respecting all federal, state and county laws. Each participant receives a course syllabus.

    Family University Foundation believes that trust and dialogue between the presenter and the participant are two essential ingredients in the effectiveness of the course. While the Foundation affirms the standard of marriage, it understands that many family situations involve unmarried adults. Whether married or living together, the course advocates that healthy and happy adult relationships and the quality of parenting work hand-in-hand! The course is sensitive to single parents who participate.

    COURSE TIMES: Wednesday evenings, 7-9 pm (Parenting) and Thursday evenings, 7-9 pm (Anger Management and Domestic Volence)

McCaughey Family
Multiple Birth Project

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 17, 1999, PRNewswire PRESS RELEASE:

With the release of The McCaughey Septuplets "Sweet Dreams" CD, the world-famous, Iowa-born toddlers are celebrating their second birthday on Nov. 19, and in keeping with the spirit of giving as they have experienced in abundance over the last two years, the McCaugheys are now giving back to others through their newly formed The McCaughey Family Multiple Birth Project through the San Diego-based Family University Foundation.

"'We have been so blessed these past two years," said Bobbi McCaughey, mother of the septuplets, "and have come to know what it takes to survive with multiples, so we want to help other families who might not have been as fortunate as we were to have the support we have been given, whether financially or with volunteers and products. It is such an honor to be in a place where we can help others by using what we have learned and also support them as they bring home their new babies. We have been overwhelmed at how everyone has pulled together to make this happen.'" [End of press release]

For seven years, the Family University Foundation administered this program--receiving donations, processing applications for support from multiple-birth families and dispersing gifts to qualifying families. The project closed in 2006.

Smart Dads Newsletter and “Dads University” Community Courses

1987 - 2006

Immediately following the launch of the Family University Foundation in 1986, it acquired SMART DADS, a monthly fathering tips newsletterl (then titled DADS ONLY). Engagement with this periodical was the foundation for a mult-year program campaign to raise the awareness and promote of the significance of fathers and their vital and unique contributions to healthy families and child development fundamentals. The newsletter brought often career distracted men practical insights, tips, activity ideas and support for effectively carrying out their work as fathers.

The editor of SMART FAMILIES joined on a panel of experts assembled to provided testimony before Congress on the father's role in family strengths.

In the early 1990s, a live fathering half-day workshop was launched, called "Dads University." Interested and qualified men were trained as Certified Instructors and the course was presented hundreds of times over the years in setting ranging from the corporate workplace to military bases and in classes hosted by the faith community and community service groups. A workplace course hosted in 1994 by Price Waterhouse for senior partners at its Chicago office became a featured news piece about "fathering in the workplace" on Good Morning America.

Additionally, father-child wilderness adventures were sponsored in the California High Sierras cooperation with Summit Expedition. Hundreds of dads bonded more deeply with sons and daughters during five days of camping, hiking and practicing rock-climbing skills together.