Do you have parenting experience? Time and attention for a family? Can you listen well?

As a Home-Start volunteer you are linked to a family. You support the family at home once a week for about a year. You do this from your own experience as an educator. The goal is to get the family back on track by putting the parent back into their strength.

Working for Home-Start is enriching. You come into contact with special people, other customs and cultures. As a volunteer you are an important buddy for parents and their children. You offer a listening ear, friendly support and practical help. You visit the family every week. Parents indicate for themselves what they want tips or support for. You think along with the parents. Together you look for solutions. By showing what is going well, self-confidence grows. You help to break through social isolation, teach parents to use facilities and provide emotional support where necessary. From your own parenting experience, you support a family at home. You do not take over business from the parents; you are next to the family. You emphasize the things that are going well and not about which they feel insecure. The contact between you and the family is equal and in mutual trust. After a few months up to a year and a half of family support, a family continues under its own steam.

You are well guided by Home-Start. You will receive training. The coordinator guides you through the support process. There are theme meetings. During return meetings you exchange experiences with the other volunteers. That's how you learn from each other. And you develop yourself in your work.