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High Country Caregivers: Developing Solutions to Aid Kinship Caregivers in Western North Carolina

High Country Caregivers hosted a site visit with staff from The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network. Staff, caregivers, and community partners participated in the site visit, which is a component of the organization’s Exemplary Policies, Practices, and Programs initiative.

The Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network is the first federally funded national technical assistance center on grandfamilies and kinship families. “We are focused on identifying and elevating kinship programs that are making a difference in the lives of families in which grandparents, other adult family members, or close family friends are raising children when their parents cannot,” said Kylee Craggett, Technical Assistance Specialist for the Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network. “It was an honor to visit High Country Caregivers and learn how they are working tirelessly to provide critical services and support to families in the western region of North Carolina. Meeting with staff, caregivers, and community partners, we thoroughly enjoyed visiting this program and getting a firsthand look at the valuable work taking place in the High Country.”

Through a variety of programs and your support, High Country Caregivers works along side kinship caregivers to help them improve the lives of these children.“We were honored that Grandfamilies & Kinship Support Network recognized the work we are doing with the High Country Caregivers (HCC) Kinship Navigation program,” said HCC’s executive director, Jacob Willis. “This is the region’s only support community of its kind. Through this program, we offer support to caregivers who have taken on the responsibility of caring for their relatives’ children,” he added.

High Country Caregivers provide advocacy, support, and education for kinship caregivers and their families. Operating in Avery, Watauga, Ashe, Yancey, Mitchell, and Wilkes counties, High Country Caregivers are currently serving 313 children and 254 caregivers. For more information, please visit Highcountrycaregivers.org.

Courtesy of High Country Caregivers.