Alongside Families Family Coaches are Christ-followers who coordinate child hostings to make sure kids are well cared for, Host Families are supported, and a good relationship is built between volunteers and parents served. Family Coaches are lead volunteers who disciple others and keep the gospel of Jesus Christ at the heart of their service.
Build relationship with a Host Family who is hosting a child(ren). Be a listening ear, support, and sounding board to help Host Families to feel cared for and supported as they host. Help to reframe and bring perspective; build bridges for relationship between the Host Family and the parent.
Oversee the wellbeing of the child who is being hosted. Conduct weekly home visits in the host home to make sure the child is doing well and that the Host Family receives support in meeting the child's needs. Help search out resources for the Host Family as needed.
Keep track of child hosting days, respite care, and weekend visits home. Make sure that our staff team is kept informed of child location and hosting start and end times. Help coordinate resources such as car seats and welcome packs for Host Families.
You will never serve alone as a Family Coach! You will receive direct oversight and support from a staff supervisor and serve as a part of a local church team to serve an isolated family together.
Family Coaches must be able to volunteer about 3 hours weekly when actively overseeing a child hosting. Child hosting lengths vary greatly: Family Coaches oversee hostings that last from 2 days up through several months. You will know the situation in advance and what the details are of the support arrangement you are committing to.
Family Coaches complete a home visit in the Host Family home within 48 hours of a hosting beginning. After that, they conduct weekly home visits. The Family Coach also commits to weekly supervision with a staff member (via Zoom/phone), to being available for the Host Family to reach out to for prayer, support, and troubleshooting in between home visits via text, phone call, etc., and to spending time searching out resources and helping the Host Family to access them when needed. The Family Coach may also need to pick up and drop off resource items such as car seats at the start and end of a hosting.
Family Coaches can also serve to coach a group of volunteers serving a parent without a child hosting occurring. In these cases, Family Coaches are the support and facilitator of Community Friend volunteers serving a parent.
Family Coaches complete an approval process that includes:
After completing training, Family Coach volunteers shadow staff and are observed serving in their role before they serve on their own. You will have lots of ongoing support and equipping during weekly supervision with our staff team while serving.
If you have additional questions about being a Family Coach, please reach out to Mary Kay, our Volunteer Coordinator: marykay@alongsidefamilies.org
Alongside Families
2217 Matthews Township Pkwy
STE D-261
Matthews, NC 28105
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