Our Mission

Our nation is facing obesity issues and many are turning to weight loss support groups for help. The CDC reported that 37.9% of adults over age 20 are obese.

Bariatric Weight Loss Family came to fruition as a Facebook group after the founders experienced what most have: rude and judgmental people bringing us and others around us down for struggling through the weight loss journey. It was deplorable and moreover depressing. The path so many of us had to choose for ourselves was and is not an easy one. The last thing someone new to their weight loss journey needs, is to be brought to their knees by people who claim their goal is to support them. Therefore, we have created something new and special, we created Bariatric Weight Loss Family (BWLF). We often refer to the group simply as “Family” because we are more than just a weight loss group–we actively aim to be a holistic resource for support and well-being.

Our paths, our journeys and our support goals, are all encompassing –there is no part of our lives or days that don’t intertwine with being a weight loss surgery patient. We even welcome those who have not had surgery but are thinking about it or just wanting to lead a better lifestyle: eating as well as we can and moving as much as we can. Family was founded January 9th 2016 by Gail Reeves, with our current CEO Cassandra Ansara joining less than one month later.

Family quickly grew… gaining hundreds then thousands of members in the first year! We branched out to other social media outlets such as Instagram and Pinterest. However, we quickly realized we couldn’t just stop at social media– at a Facebook group–we wanted to impact lives on a larger scale. We started thinking bigger and soon began working towards becoming a Non-Profit Foundation.

This website marks our continued steps towards doing more and being more as a foundation. Stay tuned for the events, fundraisers, and giveaways coming soon…. and welcome to Family!