Family Friend - Get Involved - Safe Families New York City

Get Involved

Through the efforts of dedicated staff, passionate volunteers, partnering churches, and community agencies, Safe Families New York City has supported hundreds of families across the boroughs.

Family Friends provide friendship, community, and support to isolated families through weekly calls, texts, and meet ups.

Be a Family Friend

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Family Friends come alongside parents to provide friendship, mentorship and encouragement. They assist parents with:

Emotional Support: Making time to text, call or meet in person so parents have a safe space to share and connect, getting coffee or going to the park.

Advocacy: Accompanying parents to doctor’s appointments, court dates, or parent teacher conferences so they feel confident speaking up for themselves.

Translation: Translating as needed for non-English speaking parents.

Meal delivery: Providing a meal or groceries to a parent who is struggling to cook.

Childcare: Occasional childcare to allow parents to attend to other responsibilities.

Family Coaches help families move from crisis to stability by helping parents identify goals to benefit their families and offering mentorship, guidance, and resources to help them achieve those goals.

Be a Family Coach

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The volunteer role of Family Coach is crucial to the Circle of Support. Their two primary areas of support are 1) helping parents identify goals for themselves and their families, and 2) offering mentorship and guidance to parents in meeting their goals. Family Coaches often help parents find:

Stable Housing: filling out new housing applications or applying for housing vouchers/assistance.

Stable Jobs: providing resume help, proofreading cover letters, acting as a reference, or introducing parents to professional connections.

Community Resources: researching and recommending other local programs–childcare, food pantries, diaper banks– to help parents find the holistic support they need to thrive.

Parenting Support: researching or attending local parenting groups or Mighty Village events with parents who are looking to build peer relationships.

Resource Friends share skills, services, or goods with families lacking essentials. By filling these gaps, they prevent crises and help parents stay strong, resilient, and connected during difficult times of need.

Be a Resource Friend

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At times parents need the support of material resources to help them during their time of crisis. Resource Friends are notified of one-off needs in our community, and can help stabilize families through generous donations.

Items such as Uber or food gift cards, diapers and wipes, or household items are common requests for parents who are starting single parenthood, are recently postpartum, or are transitioning from a shelter into permanent housing.

We keep a list of Resource Friends whom we notify when a particular need arises.

Our Model of Support

The Circle of Support Model is unique to Safe Families for Children, bringing together entire communities to surround vulnerable children and isolated families with relational and resource support dedicated to keeping parents supported, children safe, and families together. Our model is designed to give volunteers the opportunity to volunteer in their own community–whether you’re located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens or the Bronx, there is a role for you!

Our Model is:

Prevention-Focused
Relationship-Centered
Evidence-Based
Community Oriented

Volunteers commit to a 6-month friendship with a parent in their community. During this time, volunteers extend friendship to isolated parents by being available to connect in person or over the phone, offer encouragement or advice, and do life alongside each other! Submit your volunteer application today.

Apply to Volunteer

Hear From Our Volunteers

What is the time commitment?

Our volunteer experience is a flexible and meaningful way for busy New Yorkers to serve their community. Volunteers commit to supporting a parent for 6 months, with a weekly time commitment of 1-3 hours.

What do volunteers actually do?

Each Circle of Support friendship is as unique as any “regular” friendship, flexible with your schedule and deeply meaningful.

Volunteers are connected to parents who feel isolated and are often going through a significant crisis such as single parenthood, an unexpected pregnancy, a medical emergency, or homelessness. Volunteers commit to being available anywhere from one to three hours a week to connect with your matched parent.

As you get to know the parent, it’ll become clear how you can offer friendship and community over these 6 months. It might mean calling and checking in on a parent undergoing medical treatment or going to the park with a new mom, inviting a family over for dinner once a week or helping a single parent set up a new nursery. The possibilities are endless!

What if I can't commit to 6 months?

Each friendship is supervised by a Staff member, so if you begin a friendship and realize for any reason that you’re unable to continue volunteering, you can let them know.

If you’d still like to be a part of our mission, but time constraints are a concern check out our Monthly Donor or Resource Friend opportunities!

HAVE MORE QUESTIONS?

Get answers to questions you may have before contacting us. Visit our FAQs for answers to some common inquiries.

FAQS