About Us

Support | Education | Advocacy

Allegheny Family Network is a family-run nonprofit supporting parents and caregivers raising children with behavioral and mental health needs. Our staff bring lived experience to their work, because they have navigated many of these systems with their own families.

OUR MISSION:

Through peer-to-peer support, education, and advocacy, we partner with families of children with behavioral health needs to improve their quality of life.

OUR VISION:

Families will be empowered, respected, valued, and encouraged by an accepting community and responsive providers and child-serving systems.

OUR VALUES:

Family Voice: We believe that families are best equipped to advocate for themselves, set their own goals and priorities, and make decisions about their families.

Natural Supports: We believe that families are most successful when they connect with those who have lived experience and extended family and friends.

Strengths-Based Approach: We believe that all families have strengths and assets to be acknowledged and built upon.

Collaboration: We believe that teams of families, natural supports, and service providers can work together collaboratively to meet individual needs.

Persistence: We believe that every family deserves our attention as long as they continue to need and desire our help.

Individualized Attention: We believe that every family is uniquely different and should be treated with empathy.

Family Run Organization

Allegheny Family Network is a “Family Run” non-profit organization serving Allegheny County.

As a “Family Run” organization AFN is staffed by family members (parents or caregivers) with lived experience who have raised or are raising a child with mental health or emotional needs.

Fifty one percent of our Board of Directors are Family Members, one hundred percent of our Parent Advisory Board are Family Members, and all of the staff from the Chief Executive Officer to the direct support staff are Family Members.

Led by Lived Experiences

CEO John Eliyas brings both leadership experience and the perspective of a dad who has navigated behavioral and mental health systems on behalf of his own family. He understands firsthand what it can take to find support, navigate complex systems, ask questions, and advocate for your child.

That lived experience extends throughout AFN. John leads a team of parents and caregivers who bring their own experiences navigating systems and advocating for their families to the work they do every day.

It means families are supported by people who understand that every family’s path is different and who can walk alongside parents as they identify their own goals, make their own decisions, and find the support that works for their family.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AFN’s Board of Directors provides governance and strategic leadership to support our mission. In alignment with our family-driven values, at least 51% of board members are family members who bring lived experience and a deep understanding of the challenges families face.