Meet Our Volunteers:

George is a retired machinist. He has been an active volunteer in his community including tutoring children in school and assisting with hydrotherapy at a rehabilitation hospital. He has been volunteering with Family Friends for over 10 years. Over the years, George has visited 3 different families - spending time with the children each week. The parents turned to him for advice and problem solving. George has also helped to recruit other volunteers by representing Family Friends at community events. George comments that “being involved in Family Friends has been a major plus in my life. It has given me many rewards, and I have gotten back so much more than I have put in.”

Queen is 72 years old. She is a mother of 6 and a grandmother of 33. She currently is raising one of her granddaughters, who is 12 years old. She is an active volunteer with her church and in her neighborhood. Queen has worked at a community HIV center as an advocate, counselor and speaker. As a Family Friend volunteer for the last 5 years, Queen has been matched with a family at home helping another grandmother who is raising her young grandson. Queen has worked with staff to plan special events and has assisted in trainings and workshops by sharing her own experiences as a volunteer. Queen has also been a regular chaperone for the Family Friends Saturday Trips - being a buddy to several children who are out for a day of fun together.

Verna has been involved with Family Friends for close to 15 years. She was matched with a family for over 10 years and is currently involved in program support roles. Verna helps out by recruiting new volunteers and assisting with outreach and communication with current Family Friends participants. Verna does much of this work from home -- by telephone and email. She also has represented Family Friends at community events.

Pat is 51 and working full time at an insurance company. She is active with her church and loves to plan tours and bus trips for groups. Having navigated through her own daughter’s adolescence and young adult years, Pat wanted to be a mentor to teens in her community. A year ago, a friend told her about Family Friends and invited her to get involved. As a Family Friends volunteer, she spends time each week with two teenage girls who are each being raised by their grandmothers. They talk on the phone together about school and family, go out to see a movie, and spend time together shopping or exploring activities in the city.

Paula is 73 years old. She emigrated to Philadelphia many years ago and is now retired from her job as a nanny and housekeeper. She has helped to raise many children and considers them all “her babies”. As a Family Friends volunteer, Paula enjoys being a chaperone for the Saturday trips for kids being raised by grandparents. Her favorite trips have been to the Philadelphia Zoo and the NJ Adventure Aquarium. Her other role as a Family Friends volunteer is providing play activities for a small group of young children while their grandparents participate in a support group each week.