387: Alongside Families - Meet Meghan Macy & Mary Kay Portaro

387: Alongside Families - Meet Meghan Macy & Mary Kay Portaro

From The Best of LKN by Epic Journey Media

March 25, 2026 · 28 min

About this episode

Jeff interviews Meghan Macy and Mary Kay Portaro about the mission and impact of Alongside Families, a nonprofit focused on preventing unnecessary foster care placements.

In this episode, Jeff welcomes Meghan Macy, COO of Alongside Families, and Mary Kay Portaro, board member and former staff volunteer, to share the story behind this Charlotte-based nonprofit. Founded in 2017 by Emily Kemmann, Alongside Families works to prevent unnecessary foster care placements by providing temporary child hosting and wraparound support for families in crisis — with a track record of 100% family reunification across 350 child hostings and nearly 5,000 nights of care. M...

People in this episode

Host: Jeff

Guests: Meghan Macy, Mary Kay Portaro

Topics covered

  • nonprofit
  • foster care
  • family support
  • child hosting
  • community service

Keywords

  • foster care
  • nonprofit
  • family reunification
  • child hosting
  • support services

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alongside Families

Places: Charlotte

More episodes of The Best of LKN

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Best of LKN podcast page.