We are CAN | Crystal Charbonneau
The afternoon sunlight poured through the windows of the conference room, a small rainbow dancing across the table as Crystal Charbonneau, Parenting Education Coordinator for CAN Council, set down the materials for today's Parent Cafe. Pausing to look out at the tables and chairs, she adjusted one or two for better placement for discussion. Each seat held space for a parent to spend this afternoon seeking and receiving connection and support.
As the room slowly filled, Crystal looked around at the faces, some familiar from previous Cafes, others nervously fidgeting with the welcome packets in front of them. A mother bounced a fussy infant. Another parent checked their phone one last time before tucking it away. This was the moment Crystal loved most—the beginning, when anything seemed possible, when isolated parents were about to discover they weren't alone in their struggles.
She opened the session with a question designed to spark conversation, her voice warm and inviting. The room shifted as parents leaned forward, considering their responses. This was her creative work made real, another Cafe session had begun.
Behind each Cafe session lay hours of invisible preparation. Shopping trips for support items tailored to specific families. Crafting lesson plans with educational resources, discussion questions, and built-in aha moments. Small touches that transformed ordinary meeting spaces into welcoming environments. And the research: computer screens glowing with articles on everything from newborn sleep strategies to managing teen screen time, expert perspectives that could help parents at any stage. Crystal reviewed past sessions, modified questions that hadn't sparked connection, created new materials, always searching for information that would make a real difference in the lives of families.
As an educator, she had long understood that helping children meant supporting their parents. "I believe that my work and purpose is to help others," she would say when asked about her motivation. Knowing that each Cafe made a positive impact—even when she couldn't see the immediate results—kept her going.
What surprised people who met this outgoing, energetic professional was how she spent her time away from the Cafes. Though an extravert who thrived in conversations and connections, Crystal loved hobbies like crochet, quilting, and card making. These slower-paced activities allowed her to take care of herself, her hands moving in quiet rhythm as she created something beautiful. People were also surprised to learn she was the mother of three adult children, all of them grown now. It was a shift that still felt strange after years of busy sports schedules and places to be. She would admit, with some humor, that when not at work she was a bit of a couch potato, still adjusting to the emptiness left behind.
There were the summer months spent on the boat with her husband, fishing for perch or bluegill. The yearly family trips that had once followed her daughter's cheer team but now went where they chose: Vegas this year, finally. Crafting sessions with friends. Visits to her husband's family. And her role as an ordained Elder for her church, another calling to serve and support others.
But it was this work—the Cafes themselves—that remained at the heart of who she is.
Back in the conference room, the Cafe continued. The rainbow had shifted with the sun, no longer dancing on the table but painting the far wall in soft colors. A parent laughed at a shared experience. Another wiped away tears of relief at discovering others understood her struggles. Crystal moved through the space, facilitating connection, offering support, watching as strangers became a community.