Urgent grammar question!?

I agree with the first answerer about using the quotation marks. As far as the question of "are" or "is" in the second sentence, you are referring to group nouns (e.g., "family"), which can be modified either as plural or singular nouns. In other words, you may use either "are" or "is." I favor the plural usage, so would stick with "are" as you have it written.