https://linktr.ee/alongsidefamilies We exist to connect isolated families to local church communities that champion family preservation and physical, spiritual, and emotional thriving. We aim to keep families intact, prevent children from unnecessarily entering foster care during times of crisis, and build authentic, long-term relationships that empower families to thrive. What does it take to fracture a family? The answer is simple: a crisis such as homelessness, unemployment, or a parent being hospitalized, combined with a lack of friends or family who are able to provide the support the family needs right then. Children end up in the foster care system, and another family in Charlotte becomes a statistic. We are not okay with this. And we believe there is a better way. God created ALL of us with a need for community in order to thrive. If the problem is social isolation, the answer is community. Alongside Families mobilizes and equips local churches to open their families, their homes, their social networks, their resources, and their hearts to invite their isolated neighbors to life together within community. WHAT WE DO
- Mobilize the church to live out Christ’s love to isolated families in our community.
- Build relationships with families in need and provide connections to community resources and our social networks.
- Empower families to stay intact and gain stability and independence. HOW WE DO IT
- Connect families who are walking through hard times such as homelessness, medical or mental health challenges, or being overwhelmed as a parent, with compassionate volunteers in partner churches who are committed to family preservation.
- Temporarily host children whose parents need space and time to get back on their feet during a family crisis so that children don’t unnecessarily enter the foster care system. Parents maintain full custody of their children, and build friendships with the host family. Host Families are thoroughly screened and trained volunteers within local partnering churches who simply want to love their neighbors and keep families intact. Our goal is always family preservation. Hosting may be for a few days during a medical emergency, or for a few months when a parent needs more time to stabilize their situation.
- Provide supportive coaching and connection to resources for parents to help them reach their self-identified goals for family stability.
- Provide professional support and oversight so that volunteers can build long term, family-like relationships with isolated families that last far beyond the temporary hosting need. OUR HISTORY
Our team began partnering with local churches to serve isolated families in Charlotte in 2017 as part of a nationwide organization. In 2021 we became a locally headquartered nonprofit with the benefit of a local governing board and local management of funds to allow us to tailor our services to best meet the contextual needs of our local community. We continue to build upon and hone our gospel-centered model to provide new services and programs to help Charlotte families stabilize and thrive. OUR IMPACT
Our team of staff, volunteer, and partner churches has provided 160+ hostings to children whose parents were experiencing a crisis, provided 4,300+ nights of care, reunified 100% of children hosted with their parents, and built long-term, family-like relationships with isolated families who now have loving community to support them. COMMUNITY-FUELED
We believe that family preservation should be a priority of our community, and especially of the churches in our community. We live out love to our neighbors as a testimony to Christ's love. We are 100% privately funded by supporters, churches, volunteers, and local businesses who have a desire to champion gospel-centered family preservation and ensure that families in Charlotte stay together and thrive. Please consider joining us to fuel this ministry as a financial partner! https://www.alongsidefamilies.org/
