Supportive FamiliesSupportive families are the beating heart of the NOAM Children Program.
Across Israel, families open their homes and hearts to children growing up in residential care without family support. Not as a replacement for parents, and not instead of biological family – but as a stable emotional anchor.
They offer an additional home: warmth, the smell of Friday cooking, a shared table, a kind word, and someone who asks, “How are you doing?”
Children usually visit their host families every other weekend, as well as during holidays and school breaks – and this often continues for years.
In practice, it may look like a regular Friday: a child helping chop vegetables, drawing with the family’s other kids, or laughing together on the couch over a TV show.
But for the child, it means something much deeper.
It means knowing they are not the child left behind at the boarding school when the gates close.
It means seeing, often for the first time, what a home looks like when things get difficult – and the home doesn’t collapse.
How people can disagree without fear of being abandoned.
How conflict can exist alongside love.
What unconditional care feels like.
Supportive Families
An additional home for a child with none of their own
“He doesn’t call me Mom – and that’s not what I’m looking for. But he knows there’s always a place to eat hummus on Fridays, a place to rest after a long week at the boarding school, and someone who will text him on his birthday. Knowing that he has someone in this world – that’s everything.”
Noa, 45, supportive family parent
What does it mean to be a supportive family?
Consistent connection
An emotional anchor
Safe boundaries
Close professional support
“At first, I was afraid to come. I thought that if I argued with their kids, they would stop inviting me. But I saw that in their house, even when people are angry – they don’t disappear. That was new for me. It was the first time I felt that someone truly wanted me there.”
S., 15
350 families. Hundreds of stories. One clear impact.
To date, 350 supportive families across Israel have taken part in the program – secular, religious, ultra-Orthodox, single-parent families, families with young children and with grown ones.
Together, they prove that what matters most is not the type of family – but the willingness to open a door and a heart.
“What I love about being with them is that I don’t have to be the strongest one. I’m allowed to be tired or sad.”
R., 8
The program operates in full partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and the national out-of-home care system, following a recognized national model.
In 2012, the Supportive Families Program received the President of Israel’s Award for Volunteerism, in recognition of its exceptional contribution to children without family support.
Preparing for life after residential care
The relationship does not have to end at age 18.
We prepare both families and children for the transition out of residential care, so that the supportive home can remain an emotional anchor as young people move into military service, their first apartment, or higher education.
Sometimes that support looks like helping pack a new apartment.
Sometimes it’s a phone call before basic training.
Sometimes it’s simply a pot of warm soup after a difficult week.
For someone who grew up without family backing, this can mean the difference between surviving alone and knowing there is someone to turn to.
In The Media
כששואלים את עפרה כמה ילדים יש לה, התשובה מבחינתה ברורה
“הוא לא ידע מה זו משפחה, היום אנחנו העוגן שלו”
סיגל בר און בראיון על תכנית משפחות מלוות
