Needs From: Volunteer Leon

Become a Family Friend

A Family Friend is a trustworthy and caring individual, willing to provide support to a Host Family or offer extended family-like relationships to a parent facing various challenges. They offer practical and emotional support, helping them envision and achieve their desired goals. The goal of a Family Friend is to journey with the parent until their situation has begun to stabilize, helping to start to establish solid parenting skills and a safe home environment for their children. Some Family Friends may provide daytime childcare at a host home or a parent’s home, or assist with transportation. Family Friending can extend beyond that to include weekend hostings and respite opportunities. We strongly encourage all families to contemplate becoming Host Families, enabling them to serve in these respite opportunities.

Become a Family Friend

Become a Family Coach -

No parent should live in isolation. Parenting is hard enough, and we all need relationships that provide support, encouragement, and community. These relationships have a powerful opportunity to provide stability and prevent child abuse in the future. At the core of Safe Families, we desire to become part of a parents’ support network and form lasting family-like relationships.

By doing this, Safe Families invites the parents to experience community. This is our area of expertise, precisely what parents need: a caring, compassionate community. It’s an exciting alignment of the church’s ultimate strength with the most significant challenge parents face: social isolation and a lack of supportive community.

Become a Family Coach

Become a Resource Friend -

A Resource Friend provides tangible goods and services to assist families through the Circle of Support. Donating these goods and services helps support families during this critical time. A Resource Friend also provides needed support to Host Families. This help may come in the form of gently used equipment, children’s furniture, and clothes. They can also donate their professional services when needed, especially if they are healthcare providers, daycare providers, barbers, or stylists. Resource Friends are an integral piece of the Circle of Support!

Become a Resource Friend

Become a Host Family -

The foundation of the Safe Families for Children movement is based on the practice of hosting children and providing parents with extended family-like support. This distinguishing feature sets us apart from other initiatives that aim to love and support vulnerable children and families. The heart of our mission is radical hospitality, where we freely welcome the stranger into our homes.

Safe Families for Children operates as a volunteer network, offering a safety net for parents by providing them with a place of refuge for their children during times of crisis. Safe Families was established to assist families before their children are legally removed, which would require complex court proceedings for reunification. As a voluntary and non-coercive option, we serve as an alternative to the state child welfare system.

Host Families serve in their own capacity - whether that's caring for a child for a few hours, a few days, or a longer period of time.

Become a Host Family