For some, family members are the ones to step in when a parent needs help with child care, recovery from illness or other struggles that arise in life. But for others, a small calamity can balloon into a big one when there’s no one to lend a helping hand. Kindred Connections aims to be that type of family support for those who don’t have it. The program offers a helping hand to struggling families, offering support including child care, housing assistance, transportation, home stays and much more for families who are experiencing hardships.
“Kindred Connections is a team of allies who rally around families in crisis,” the program describes on its website. “Participating area churches mobilize volunteers who build relationships with families in times of hardship, and who open their homes to care for children while their parents cannot.”
While the program — a part of J Bar J — doesn’t work with families who are part of an active case with the Department of Human Services, the Kindred Connections program sometimes does stand as an alternative to foster care.
“Parents always remain the guardian, and it’s voluntary on both ends,” co-founder Becca Beal described. “We have had one volunteer in particular — she’s had so many families under her wing that she still keeps in contact with. She helped host a teenager who essentially was homeless, and it was probably a two-year process, and this teenager just recently got married, and she went to the wedding, still talks to her, supports her from afar.”
Beal, a parent of two biological and two adopted children, was inspired to start the program, originally called Safe Families for Children, after seeing her sister-in-law participate in the Safe Families program in California. In 2012, Beal and co-founders Jana Hill and Chris Earwicker contacted the national branch of Safe Families and started one in Central Oregon, eventually merging its programming with J Bar J and changing the name to Kindred Connections.
Today, volunteers contribute thousands of hours monthly to supporting the families in its program. Area churches support the work by spreading the word and recruiting volunteers. Today, with the other two co-founders pursuing other endeavors and Beal less involved than in the past, she said she is grateful for the work the nonprofit does, and for the person who now keeps the program running.
“Hilary Metcalf has taken beautiful ownership of this program/ministry,” Beal told the Source Weekly. “Without her, Kindred Connections may not be still running. We are all so thankful for her involvement.”
This article appears in Source Weekly November 7, 2024.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
