Our Team
Safe Families for Children Central Indiana is both volunteer-driven and professionally-supported, with our dedicated volunteers leading our community efforts while our professional team provides essential support and structure. Our team passionately invests their lives in strengthening families, engaging the church and community, growing the volunteer base, supporting and vetting volunteers and much more.
Lori Milzarek
Family Coach Supervisor
Lori Milzarek is the Family Coach Supervisor for the Safe Families for Children Central Indiana chapter. She holds a master’s degree in Counseling from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and has worked with children of all ages for over 25 years as an elementary school counselor, a preschool teacher, and a middle school/high school drug and alcohol prevention coordinator. Lori started volunteering as a family coach and family friend in 2019, and she and her family have been serving as a host family since 2020. Contact Lori at lmilzarek@safefamilies.net.
Trisha Whiteley
Church and Community Engagement Coordinator
Trisha Whiteley is the Church and Community Engagement Coordinator for the Safe Families for Children Central Indiana chapter. She has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Paralegal from Indiana Wesleyan University. Trisha has worked with the public for the past 19 years. She and her husband were foster parents for 4 years before they adopted their daughter in 2023. Trisha and her family have been hosting since August 2023, when Trisha joined staff. Contact Trisha at twhiteley@safefamilies.net.
Abbey Gordon
Site Coordinator of Greater Lafayette
Abbey Gordon is the Site Coordinator for the Greater Lafayette site of Safe Families for Children Central Indiana chapter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Human Services and Entrepreneurship from Purdue University. Abbey began her involvement with Safe Families as an intern in the fall of 2023 and joined staff in January 2024. Since then, she has grown Safe Families’ volunteer network and led family support efforts in Greater Lafayette. Contact Abbey at agordon@safefamilies.net.
Our Volunteers
Our volunteers are the driving force behind the Safe Families movement. It takes many people working in various capacities to support families who are going through difficult circumstances. These dedicated volunteers live out our core values of radical hospitality, disruptive generosity, and intentional compassion. Volunteers serve a variety of roles from hosting children for a temporary period of time to wrapping support around families to providing services such as transportation, parent mentoring, respite care, and supplying tangible items such as diapers, car seats, household items, and meals.
