Our Team
Our Team Safe Families for Children is staffed by four experienced leaders. Dr. Janet Cockrum launched the East TN ministry in 2011. She continues in her role as chapter director. Cara Foster and her family hosted over 50 children before she joined the team as Case Coach Supervisor. Katie Loftin brings years of experience in volunteer work, helping families in our community. As a Family Coach, she helps provide support to single mothers who live in the residential rehab home that Safe Families partners with. Kathryn Ann Laux comes to us from Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, where she served as the Local Mission Director. She now utilizes her experience of mobilizing the church in her role as the Church and Community Engagement Lead with Safe Families for Children. This dynamic team wears multiple hats and is known for their contagious enthusiasm and love for moms and children who need help connecting to community resources. The engine behind Safe Families is our faith communities and their volunteers. Our volunteers are a priceless resource, providing transformative support to East TN families in difficult life situations. Tennessee is known as The Volunteer State, and the Safe Families ministry is driven by the volunteers who not only host children but also actively engage in relationships, being a support to the families we minister to.
Our Volunteers
We are fueled by an incredible army of dedicated and compassionate volunteers who are committed to living out our core values of radical hospitality, disruptive generosity, and intentional compassion. Volunteers serve a variety of roles, from hosting children for a temporary period to providing support to families, including transportation, parent mentoring, respite care, and tangible items such as clothes, diapers, car seats, meals, household items, and more.