Sisterhood Spotlight
Founder and Executive Director of Family Services Network
As the Founder and Executive Director of the Family Services Network, Astrid Gámez provides parents and children of at-risk families with programs to help them succeed and develop healthy lives. Offering developmental playgroups, national violence prevention programs, bullying awareness workshops, and raising awareness around child abuse, Ms. Gámez focuses on finding an empowering solution before the risks effect a child’s development. In this Sisterhood Spotlight, Ms. Gámez discusses her favorite ways to honor her heritage, how her heritage has helped her in her career, the struggles she has faced, the difference her nonprofit makes in the community, and how youth can get involved in the Family Services Network.
Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the different histories and cultures represented by Americans whose families emigrated from various Hispanic countries. What are some of your favorite ways to honor your cultural heritage?
Over the last 29 years, I’ve had the opportunity to share my culture through music and food with neighbors, coworkers, and friends.
I believe women and girls of Virginia should understand how diverse the cultures and traditions are throughout Latin America. Every country has their own customs, food and folklore. Even the meaning of words vary from country to country despite sharing the same language. Overall, our cultures are warm and happy, our families and values are our priorities.
As the Founder and Executive Director for the Family Services Network, how has your background and understanding of other cultures helped you succeed in your career?
Growing up as the child of two journalists has always been an advantage for me in my career. Through my parents’ work, I was exposed to the problems our communities faced. These experiences taught me how I can help others regardless of their race, religion, and socioeconomic status.
What has been the biggest struggle that you’ve faced, personally or professionally, and how did you get through it?
Working in child abuse prevention means that people come to me with very sensitive and difficult problems throughout all hours of the day. My job is to help support them the best way I can, sometimes that means accompanying them to court or finding them the proper services available. Like for many others, the Covid pandemic was a tough time. We had to adapt all our classes to work virtually so parents could continue to attend. Losing in-person classes was difficult at first, but we achieved our objective of helping parents reach a healthy and convenient balance.
You have worked with the Family Services Network for nearly 25 years. How have you seen first-hand, the difference that this organization makes in communities?
One of the main ways we’ve seen our organization's impact is through the “Developmental Playgroup” program. We followed up with the children of 15 families who have all gone on to become the first generation of their families to attend college. With the parenting classes, we’ve seen how parents have bettered communication with their kids, set rules and implemented consequences instead of punishments as their method of discipline.
How can youth get plugged in to your FSN programs and are there other things that the community can do to help those in need?
I work with families, so young people are involved in the classes and activities. It’s a joy to see children watch their parents graduate and receive a diploma at the end of the program. I would like to develop a workshop to teach the Hispanic community to volunteer more in their children's school, to be part of the PTA, to attend parent-teacher conferences, school board meetings, etc.
To learn more about Ms. Gámez’s nonprofit, visit Family Services Network, or to learn more about educational resources for parents, please see the Virginia Department of Education’s website.
About Astrid Gámez
Astrid M. Gámez was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. In 1994, she adopted Virginia as her “home state” where she raised her two children.
Ms. Gámez, M.A. is the founder and Executive Director of Family Services Network. For the past 24 years, Ms. Gámez has been serving local communities in the Northern Virginia and Washington D.C. area. Ms. Gámez developed the “Whom Should I Tell?” curriculum program, a comprehensive child sexual abuse prevention program that teaches parents and caregivers the practical tools and techniques to prevent, recognize and report any type of sexual child abuse.
In September 2023, Ms. Gámez signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Universidad de Oriente (UNIVO) in El Salvador to make support groups with survivors of Domestic Abuse and women who have been sexually abused during their childhood.
As an ACT –RSK Master Trainer, Ms. Gámez has trained facilitators in Northern Virginia, Washington D.C., the Melissa Institute in Miami, FL., and the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador. In addition, she has conducted training programs at the Instituto de Capacitación Los Alamos in Itagui, Colombia and the Universidad La Sabana, in Chia, Colombia. In 2021, Ms. Gámez published Whom Should I Tell? An educational coloring and activities book for 4 to 12 years old children. Ms. Gámez holds an M.A in Prevention and Treatment of Family Violence: Children, Couples and the Elderly from the Univesitat de Barcelona, Spain and a B.A. in psychology with a certification in child welfare from George Mason University.