November 13, 2026
The Other Half of the Equation
How our Family Engagement Specialist extends Friends Austin’s support to the caregivers raising the children we serve.
*Originally published in our FY26 Gratitude Report.
Every child at Friends Austin is paired with a professional mentor for 12+ years. That support increasingly extends to the caregivers raising them.
Caregivers carry an enormous weight, balancing work, parenting, finances, schools, and systems that are difficult to navigate. They are resourceful and determined, but rarely have extra time or someone in their corner
In 2025, Friends Austin expanded the model to reach caregivers, adding our first Family Engagement Specialist.
Linda adapts our “no-matter-what” approach to caregivers. Her work begins with trust, which can take months to build.
At the heart of Linda’s work is a belief that no two families need the same kind of support because no two families face the same challenges. Rather than following a checklist or prescribing solutions, Linda listens first, then follows the caregiver’s lead and steps in wherever they see the greatest need.
Support can mean navigating paperwork, accessing the Family Emergency Fund, arranging a food pantry delivery, or helping a family find the resources they need to feel more stable at home.
Food security is one of the most common needs families raise. In November 2025, when a federal government shutdown temporarily disrupted SNAP benefits, many of the families we walk alongside faced sudden uncertainty about how they would feed their families. Our family engagement program and our community of supporters raised $120,000 to bridge the gap. The funds went directly to the families in our program for groceries.
With over 20 years of family engagement work, Linda has found that the biggest misconception about families experiencing poverty is that they do not want help. What she sees instead are caregivers deeply invested in their children’s futures and willing to do whatever it takes to build a better life. As Linda puts it, “If someone didn’t care, they wouldn’t invite an organization of strangers into the most personal parts of their lives.”
Linda’s work stands on the relationships our professional mentors build with families over the years. Just as every child has a Friend walking beside them, caregivers have someone walking beside them, too.
The addition of Linda deepens our ongoing commitment to supporting caregivers. With a dedicated person focused on the needs of families, Friends can spend less time navigating immediate challenges and more time doing what they do best: showing up consistently for their youth. It means stronger support for families and greater capacity for Friends to be fully present for the young people they walk alongside.
In her first year, Linda has worked with nearly 40% of the families in our program, extending our long-term commitment beyond the child to the people raising them.