About Our Chapter
Our Volunteers
We are currently recruiting volunteers to be coaches and family friends. We have trained over 150 volunteers at our live trainings in NYC. We currently have 38 approved volunteers. The vetting process includes an application, 3 references, 3 background checks (FBI and NY State fingerprinting, child abuse clearance).
Our Churches
Church partnerships are the foundation of our ministry to serve families in crisis. We have 17 congregations fully committed to be a Safe Families church, and are continually seeking to partner with more churches. Our current churches are from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens, and we are praying for church partnerships in all 5 boroughs.
Our Team
Safe families is a volunteer-driven ministry. Our volunteers will be doing the most significant work of serving families in need. In addition to our team of volunteers, we have a volunteer leadership team that serves to grow the Safe Families movement in NYC. This leadership team is composed of 4 separate teams: prayer, church engagement, agency engagement and fundraising. We currently have two part-time staff members. Laura Galt began as the leader of the launch team in April of 2015 and became the NYC Chapter Coordinator in June of 2016. Emily Cowan was hired October 2016 as the intake and family coach supervisor.
Laura Galt, NYC Chapter Coordinator
Laura has lived in Brooklyn, NY for 10 years with her husband and 4 children. Her family has temporarily hosted several children from her block when they were in crisis, including respite foster care. These experiences led to her passion to lead a team to start Safe Families in NYC.
Emily Cowan, Intake and Family Coach Supervisor
Emily lives in Brooklyn, NY with her quirky, bearded, artist husband and her ninja aspiring 6-year-old. Hospitality, to friend and stranger, has always been central to how they do life. Since marriage, Ben and Emily have intentionally pursued family-like relationships with others; sharing homes, hosting guests and welcoming all at their dinner table. Emily graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a desire to love God and serve people. After a year of youth ministry in England, Emily returned to Chicago to pursue a Master of Social Work where her heart for justice and reconciliation took deep root. Since then, she’s worked with youth and at risk populations in Chicago, Indiana, and Brooklyn. For her, Safe Families for Children is the perfect union of ministry and justice.