The Valley Toyota Dealers is a sponsor of Sonoran Living.
Established in 1988, Save the Family Foundation of Arizona is the East Valley's leading provider of housing, case management and supportive services for families experiencing homelessness. Save the Family's mission is to equip families to address poverty, overcome homelessness and achieve self-sufficiency. Last year, Save the Family served 587 families, including more than 1,000 children.
Save the Family recognizes that ending homelessness requires more than just housing. We offer a full range of programs designed to help every member of the family - parent and child alike - work toward a better life. Each family that comes to Save the Family is assigned a case coordinator, someone who helps identify challenges unique to each family and guides the family on their journey to self-sufficiency. Classes on budgeting, job searching, parenting and more are offered for parents, while youth programs are provided to ensure children have the opportunity to learn, explore, grow, and most importantly, just be kids.
Family homelessness, sadly, impacts the very young. The majority of those served at Save the Family are children; the most frequently seen age of a client is just three years old. Homelessness can have devastating effects on children, with mental health and academic performance suffering compared to stably housed peers. Save the Family works to help kids overcome the trauma of homelessness and eliminate latchkey situations so children can thrive after school and during the summer.
Save the Family offers an on-site children's center so that moms and dads who are meeting with their case coordinator, attending a life skills class, or going to a job interview have a safe place to leave their little ones. In addition, Save the Family offers summer and afterschool programs for elementary through high school age children. Last year, 91% of the children in Save the Family's programs maintained regular attendance at school. More than 80% were involved in extracurricular activities.
"Without Save the Family, I don't know where me and my children would be,"
Clare M., former Save the Family client.
Save the Family provides a lifeline to families in need across the Valley. The transformation these families undergo over the course of their short time at Save the Family is life changing. The impact spans generations, with young parents - adults now who were once Save the Family's youngest clients reaching out to offer their gratitude, volunteer service and donations in support of the programs that turned their family's life around.
For their efforts to help kids go places in our community, Save the Family will receive a $500 VISA gift card, courtesy of The Valley Toyota Dealers.
To learn more about how to get involved, visit Save the Family's website at www.savethefamily.org.
