Today

Safe Families helps build resilient families by wrapping practical support and relational community around parents to help strengthen and secure the home environment. Safe Families doesn’t try and help solve all of a family’s problems. However, by befriending and supporting families, we can help reduce isolation and equip parents to problem solve how to manage life’s challenges, so that they never face them alone. All of us can play a role in helping to build resilient families.

Our History

Our founder, licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Dave Anderson, was running a foster care agency when he discovered the need for parents to have support before getting to the point of state involvement. His “Aha!” moment  happened when a Mom came to him asking for help and he realized he was set up only to help after something bad happens and Safe Families was started in 2003.

Our Volunteers

Our volunteers are not case managers. They aren’t perfect parents; some of them aren’t parents. They are all compassionate NYers who believe that partnering with us to help strengthen families is one way we can all work together to help make NYC a great place to raise a family. We have a team approach to volunteering so that no one feels alone or overwhelmed. We average 3 volunteers matched with each family and our vision is to have volunteers in every neighborhood in all five boroughs.

Our Team

Safe families is a volunteer-driven ministry. Our volunteers do the most significant work of connecting with families. Our staff members function in three teams:

1. Family Support Team (conduct intake with families and provide professional support to volunteers)
2. Community & Volunteer Mobilization Team (recruit churches, community organizations and volunteers)
3. Mighty Village (elevating the voice of parent participants, leading Parent Cafes and peer support workshops, and innovating new ways to improve the model) 

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Laura Galt is the NYC Director of Safe Families for Children. She has a B.S. in Psychology, M.A. in Theological Studies, and a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion. Laura is passionate about preventing family separation by mobilizing local communities to be good neighbors. This passion is driven by her involvement in her local community, as well as her own family– two of her four children have experienced family separation. After becoming close to a few families in a homeless shelter on her block, Laura learned how ordinary neighbors can be hugely instrumental in providing necessary family support, to aid in family unification. Laura has loved living in Brooklyn, NY since 2006 with her husband and four kids.

Emily has enjoyed calling many parts of the US south and Midwest home, but, with much excitement, she and her family began a new adventure in Brooklyn in 2012. She received her Master in Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago where the ideals of prevention, equity and justice took deep root. In 2016, Emily was thrilled to come on staff with Safe Families NYC, to support the amazing volunteers who connect with and support some of the most incredible and resilient families in NYC. Emily brings her professional experience working with at-risk youth and families and her personal experience as a licensed foster parent to the Family Support Team at SFFC.

Jasmine is from upstate New York. She grew up in a loving family who were actively involved in their church and serving their community. Her parents often modeled an open door policy, showing hospitality and sacrificial generosity to those in need. Seeing this example stirred a passion within Jasmine to serve the marginalized and often overlooked. She completed a Masters Degree in Human Services and has spent most of her time working in ministry. Jasmine is passionate about children and families. Her desire is to see whole families thriving in healthy relationships with one another. She now resides in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and children.

Gaby was born and raised in Queens, NY. She grew up in a church community and home that emphasized the importance of hospitality and generosity, which continually impacts her life choices. She moved to Tennessee to attend Covenant College. In 2021, she started as the Safe Families Coordinator in Chattanooga, TN. She had never heard of Safe Families for Children before starting this position, but she quickly became passionate about their mission to keep families together and implement family-like support within the community. Gaby recently moved back to Queens and is thrilled to be able to continue to work for SFFC and serve the City of New York.

Jacqueline was born and raised in New York City, where she grew up in a single-mother household on the Upper West Side. Her home was always open to other single mothers. When she was twelve, Jacqueline moved to Queens, started attending church, and committed her life to Christ.  She graduated from Queens College with a major in French and a minor in Spanish (her first language). Now, Jackie lives in Queens with her husband.  She has three children and two grandchildren. Jackie is excited to work with Safe Families for Children and come alongside the Hispanic community helping them to create meaningful connections and ease their burden.

Nicole is a life-long New Yorker, born and raised in the Bronx, NY. She grew up in a thriving church community that was active in their community, meeting the needs of the most vulnerable. Nicole brought this same passion for others into her career when she began working with young adults. Her professional work has focused on workforce development and economic justice. She currently lives in Yonkers, NY with her husband and kids. Nicole loves serving her city with Safe Families for Children.

Zach was born and raised in northern New Jersey. Through his church’s mission work, Zach developed a passion for community engagement and service from a young age. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a degree in International Relations. After graduating, Zach helped plant a church in Detroit, where he worked for five years. In 2018, Zach returned to the New York area, working at LEAD NYC as a Community Liaison and Project Coordinator. He began volunteering with Safe Families for Children in 2019, and was deeply moved by their work and the families he connected with. Zach is passionate about the impact and mission of Safe Families, which encourages him as he connects churches with families that are isolated and marginalized. In addition to his work at Safe Families, Zach works as a development consultant for non-profits and ministries in New York City. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Zoey.

David is a Bronx native who almost became an at-risk youth and a statistic of growing up in the South Bronx in a single-parent household. But God had other plans. At sixteen he encountered God and his life took a 180-turn. Since then, he has been on a journey to help others learn about God. David has a passion for teaching and seeing lives transformed; He has spent the last 15 years helping seasoned and new believers deepen their faith. He serves as the lead Pastor of Legacy Movement Church in the Bronx, which he planted in October 2020. He truly believes Safe Families NYC embodies the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” David is married to his wife, Tiffany, with whom he has two sons.

Before settling in New York City 11 years ago, Anna traveled around the world as a youth program director and singer on international cruises. She now resides in the Bronx, and has two adorable boys, aged ten and seven years old. Anna has always had a heart for others and a strong dedication to supporting families and their wellbeing. She is a certified Family Healing Ambassador in the Department of Education, facilitating workshops for parents, staff, educators, guardians and students. Now, Anna is the Program Manager of Mighty Village, Safe Families NYC’s peer-to-peer program for isolated parents. Her favorite quote is, “You’ll never know how strong you are until the only choice you have left is to be strong.”

Olivia grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, where she started her undergraduate program. She moved to Manhattan in 2020 to complete her degree at The King’s College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Olivia has researched issues of childhood trauma, sexual ethics, and women’s health in the church. Her writing on the relational consequences of the purity culture movement has been published in Christianity Today. Growing up, Olivia saw the benefits of the Safe Families host program through family friends who volunteered with SFFC. She is excited to combine her passion to see others flourish, with her love of writing in her role as Program Administrator. Olivia resides in Brooklyn with her husband and many plants.