Written by Laura Rasche What seemed like a fast transition of me stepping in as Director of the Central Indiana chapter of Safe Families in May of 2021 had actually been a work in progress for nearly nine years. In the summer of 2012, my own children Nettie ( 5) and...

Elizabeth Beseke, Minnesota State Director When I heard the statement, “Trauma blocks love but love heals trauma” by Frank Anderson, a conversation quickly flashed in my mind. I remember it well. My Family Coach and I were sitting in a coffee shop with mom sharing how...

"Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."2 Corinthians 1:3-5 The three...

We believe there are three core values that are important for Safe Families to live out.  Radical hospitality is the idea we love strangers by opening our lives and by inviting them into our homes to live and fellowship with us. By caring for children in our homes and...

In Matthew chapter 25, we are reminded by Jesus that there is a danger for those in greatest need to become invisible to us.  The disciples responded in Matthew 25, “when did we see you….” It is easy for most of us to be moved to action when we hear children in...

We often underestimate what an important role our whole plays in hosting children in our home. I was reminded of this when our family recently began hosting a 10-year-old girl. Her transition from her family into our home, though necessary, was quite upsetting for...

Two of the main goals of Safe Families are to prevent child abuse and decrease the number of children being forcibly separated from their parents (family preservation).  By doing so, kids are safe and families are preserved. It also reduces the number of kids in...

During the final week of 2007, Chicago was shocked by the actions of a young mother who quietly exited a train with her three-year-old daughter, leaving her two other sons, ages six and four, behind. Fellow passengers frantically attempted to get the mother’s...

“The problem with our world is we draw the circles of our families too small.” Mother Teresa I discovered the above quote from Mother Teresa when I visited her ministry in Calcutta.  The quote was on the wall of one of her buildings.  When I started Safe...

Yesterday, I returned a 10-year-old girl to her mother after my family hosted her for the weekend to give the mom a break. On my way home, I saw an older woman severely hunched over, walking very slowly, carrying a bag of groceries.  She looked like she was in...