Strengthening Families

Preventing and Responding to Family Breakdown

LifeHouse Care Families | The Homeward Project

Our desire is to see families in tough places flourish, meeting them early and walking with them towards restoration and health.

We have sought to identify priority needs in our local community and respond with discernment and stewardship of resources. 

The unique solution that the church can offer is relationship. 

It requires going beyond short-term or transactional engagement, it needs collaboration with partners and it takes time. But we believe the impact is worth it. 

Supporting Vulnerable Mothers

When considering vulnerable mothers, comprehensive review and research have revealed the key needs: social and emotional support to reduce isolation and access to practical support after the baby is born. So the heart that was reflected

in Lilyrose—to support mothers and their babies during pregnancy—is evolving in approach and expanding in scope.

Through LifeHouse Care Families we will continue to support women facing crisis pregnancy through referrals to counselling and midwifery services and providing crisis assistance. We will also commit to a longer period of post-natal support, through volunteer support for up to one year. 

We are also working to make practical support available for families experiencing vulnerability, through mobilising an army of volunteers to cook meals, run errands, help around the house, or offer low cost trades and services—helping to lighten the load during a crisis as well as providing scaffolding to strengthen families moving forward. 

This early intervention approach lowers the chance that children will experience significant harm due to challenges like parental mental health difficulties, domestic and family violence, substance misuse, or neglect. 

A Home for Every Child, Community for Every Carer

When children need to be moved to a safe place for their care, the best option for them is to be cared for by a relative or trusted friend (kinship care), or welcomed by a foster family, while decisions about their permanent care are made. However, there continues to be a serious shortage of foster carers. 55,300 children in Australia are in Out-of-Home Care* placements each year**, but more carers are leaving the system than entering it. 

This is an area of huge need and a powerful opportunity for the church. 

The Homeward Project provides pathways, resources, and support for Australian Christians to find their place in Out-of-Home Care. We don’t all have to do the same thing, but we can all do something. Across the breadth of the Church, we can ensure there are enough loving foster families for every child who needs one and provide greater support for those sacrificially opening their homes in this way. 

*Out-of-Home Care is the overnight care of children aged under 18 who are unable to live with their families due to child safety concerns (AIHW, 2026).

**Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2026, Child Protection Australia 2023-24

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Creating Inclusive Communities

Ability & Beyond

Ability & Beyond exists to ensure families with disability are welcomed and included in church life, because as Founder Keren says: “the Gospel is for everyone”. 

She knows from parenting a child with a disability how hard it can be to get to a church service. She says, “I hear the challenges: ‘It’d be too much,’ ‘Your child wouldn’t be safe.’ But there’s so much opportunity to change this. We want to remove barriers and help meet needs, both earthly and spiritual."

This heart is expressed through practical support packages, pastoral care, advocacy, and a range of programs. 

All Stars provides a safe, sensory-friendly space during Sunday Kids Programs, and Ministry of Minecraft offers teenagers a unique way to engage. 

Carers Connect has provided a safe space for over 60 women to gather and support each other along what can be an isolating journey. 

Six people living with a disability have been in volunteer placements with LifeHouse Care during the past six months. 

GrooveHouse offers music and movement groups, helping toddlers, children and teenagers build skills, connections, and confidence. Paola, Ketzal’s mum, shares about her experience: 

“We LOVE GrooveHouse Tots. It is fun, interactive and educational, perfect for Ketzal’s needs. It covers musical instruments with different sounds, Key Word Signing for speech development, fine motor skills, and playing with others for social skills. It’s also important for mumma’s mental health and support! We feel welcome and safe in an environment created for us by the lovely team, decorated for all abilities by Keren and her lovely team. Sydney brings beautiful music with her guitar and voice, while Mel and Cris decorate the room for all abilities and neurological needs. Ketzal and I are always looking forward to coming and having fun! It's been extremely helpful and we're grateful it exists.”

The Big Joy Christmas Party hosted nearly 200 people in 2025, doubling attendance from the previous year. 34 volunteers, including people living with a disability, helped make the event possible. “We haven’t been to a Christmas party for ages because it’s just too hard,” one parent shared. “This is the first time I’ve been able to stay somewhere.” 

Looking ahead, LifeHouse Lo-Fi services will facilitate a church experience designed with and for people with disability. 

“Families have connected through Ability & Beyond and are now supporting one another,” Keren says. “It’s not about big numbers but about people connecting and staying. We want to see people feeling valued, using their gifts and talents, finding purpose and fulfillment. It’s no different than what we want for all our kids; we might just have to do it in a slightly different way.”

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Strengthening Families in Cambodia

Mothers Heart Organization | Children in Families | Chad & Corrie Irons

Internationally, the same relational approach—focusing on prevention and alternative care options for children—is reflected in our Cambodian mission partnerships. 

Mothers Heart Organization are working to ensure that no woman in Cambodia faces a crisis pregnancy alone. They are driven by a vision that every mother experiences wellbeing, economic empowerment, and a sense of belonging. 

For an average length of two years, the team walk with women, providing counselling, medical care, building economic capacity, helping restore family relationships, and forging community connections, so they can choose the best future for themselves and their babies. 

2025 saw 33 new women welcomed into the program, and the team celebrated the safe arrival of 35 babies, all of whom are thriving. 

Mothers Heart are currently serving 154 women, over 40% of whom are under 18 years old. Of the 151 children currently being supported, over 70% are with their biological mothers, 23% are living with their relatives (kinship care), two are in temporary foster care, and six are in permanent foster care. 

A Mother’s Determination

By her early forties, Kounila had experienced deep loss, losing three husbands and a young son. Seven months pregnant, she was left to care for her children and elderly parents while living in poverty and facing shame within her community.

Her turning point came at a prenatal check-up, where she reached out for help and was referred to Mother’s Heart. Receiving counselling, essential care, and help securing legal documents for her family’s future, she began rebuilding her life. 

After giving birth, Kounila enrolled in a vocational training program, determined to become financially independent. Despite the challenges of daily travel and family responsibilities, her commitment never wavered. With the simple gift of a bicycle, she was able to attend training consistently and continue caring for her family.

Kounila’s story is a powerful reminder that with the right support, people can seize opportunities to build their lives and a whole family’s future can be impacted.

Children in Families (CIF) are working to ensure that vulnerable Cambodian children grow up in safe, loving families instead of residential care. They have been persistent in modelling an approach that involves strong collaboration with government and churches and wider community support for families. 

In 2025, CIF supported 281 individuals, including 131 children. 85 families received structured case management through family preservation and foster care services. 11 children in foster care experienced permanency through legal adoption by their foster families and at least another 5 adoptions are due to be approved early in 2026. Focusing on children with disability - a leading cause of family separation and institutionalisation - the ABLE project provided specialized services to 43 children living with disability or chronic health conditions. 

From Overwhelm to Hope

In a small Cambodian village, eleven-year-old Visoth faced daily challenges with autism and epilepsy. His seizures were frequent, and his parents felt overwhelmed and unable to provide the care he needed.

When CIF met the family, they were at breaking point. A CIF family-based care worker and a disability worker wrapped the family in support, coordinating medical care, teaching skills in rehabilitation and positive parenting, and helping them build sustainable income.

The impact has been life-changing. Visoth is now seizure-free and growing in independence, able to communicate, dress himself, and engage with his siblings. The wider family has also been strengthened, with his younger brother supported to stay in school and access for the family to ongoing healthcare through a government program.

No longer defined by crisis or overwhelm, but by hope, Visoth’s family are building a stable future together. 

Chad and Corrie Irons have been highly valued and much loved partners of LifeHouse, as ACCI Field Workers in Cambodia. They have served a number of different ministries, using their skillsets to empower local leadership for effective and sustainable mission, in both the local church and the community.

In 2025, Chad’s focus was mentoring senior leadership of a local social enterprise bakery and cafe who train and employ women who have been rescued from trafficking situations - providing pathways to a sustainable livelihood. 

Corrie provided systems development support for a not-for-profit who are training government social workers to establish a national foster care system. In 2025, they facilitated the placement of over 20 children into loving homes. 

The fruit of Chad and Corrie’s work is seen in the readiness for full transition to local ownership. They will be relocating back to Australia towards the end of 2026 and we honour them for their years of service in Cambodia.