Inspiring Conversations with Kristy Steele of Save Our Families

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristy Steele.

Hi Kristy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started Save Our Families from a very personal place. After losing my mother, Nita, to an overdose in 2017, I knew I wanted to build something that could reach families dealing with similar experiences. I understood what it felt like to love someone through substance use and mental health challenges while navigating poverty, grief, and systems that often fail the people who need support the most.

What began as a response to pain and grief slowly evolved into a broader vision for community care. In 2020, Save Our Families officially launched as a nonprofit focused on meeting people where they are with love, compassion, and practical support. We started on my front porch with Nita’s Closet, named in honor of my mother.

Today, Save Our Families is rooted in the belief that communities need low-barrier access to resources, relationships, and systems that grow with them. My story is not just about building an organization. It is about transforming grief into service, turning lived experience into leadership, and creating the kind of support my family needed but did not always have.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ll be honest, this has been one of the most challenging endeavors. Save Our Families was born out of grief, so I had to learn how to build while I was still healing. Losing my mother to an overdose changed my life, and turning that pain into purpose took time, courage, and a lot of faith. After her passing, I left the music industry. I founded a media company in 2008 called Hip-Hop Digital, which led me to shows across the country, where I curated exclusive interviews with musicians and DJs, and I left it all behind. Entering the field of building a nonprofit in the harm reduction and community care sector was foreign. It was a steep learning curve, but part of the healing came from all the learning and newfound information I’d gathered.

Throughout the organization’s journey, one of the biggest struggles has been securing consistent funding. Like many grassroots organizations, we started with limited resources, but the community’s needs were immediate and real. There were moments where we had the vision, the relationships, and the community trust, but not always the financial support to match the work. I learned to leverage my network and partnerships to secure the support we needed, while being vocal about our need to be sustainable in the long term.

I have also had to learn how to lead, advocate, build systems, and make hard decisions while carrying the emotional weight of the mission. Those challenges shaped the organization; they made us more resourceful, more intentional, and more committed to creating support that is rooted in love. Every struggle has helped clarify why this work matters and why Save Our Families has to exist.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Save Our Families is a Cleveland-based community care organization built from lived experience, love, and an unwavering commitment to making resources accessible. Our work began with a simple but powerful purpose: to meet people where they are and provide the care they need without judgment, shame, or unnecessary barriers. From a front porch, we distributed naloxone, hygiene products, clothing, safer sex supplies, and compassionate support to members of our community. As the needs around us grew, so did our work. Our overdose prevention efforts expanded to include disease prevention, health education, resource navigation, and deeper forms of community support.

After five years of operating from a porch, Save Our Families received a transformative call from the team at NASTAD. Their support enabled us to move into a dedicated office space in 2025, creating a more accessible place for people to access services, resources, and care. With this new space, we expanded our programming to include food distribution. In April 2026, we launched an initiative in partnership with Miami University to provide HIV and hepatitis C testing, strengthening our commitment to prevention, early detection, and equitable access to health services.

Save Our Families is known for showing up in the real places where people need us most. We do not require people to be perfect, sober, or free from crisis before they are worthy of support. We do not treat basic needs as luxuries. We understand that a hygiene kit, a clean shirt, a dose of naloxone, a compassionate conversation, or a trusted referral can be the difference between someone feeling forgotten and someone remembering that their life still matters.

What sets us apart is our community care model. Save Our Families was not built from theory alone. It was built from loss, survival, cultural understanding, and the recognition that communities have always found ways to care for one another, even when institutions failed to show up. We bring professional structure to grassroots love, combining public health, harm reduction, family support, youth development, education, and mutual care in a way that remains human, accessible, and rooted in the community.

Our brand carries both softness and power. We are compassionate, but we are not passive. We are bold, but we are never disconnected from the people we serve. Save Our Families represents healing, protection, dignity, education, and action.

We are more than a nonprofit providing services. We are building a movement of care where people are seen without judgment, supported without conditions, and equipped with the resources, knowledge, and opportunities they need to survive, heal, and move forward.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Finding a mentor in this field has honestly been one of the harder parts of the journey. There are many people doing meaningful work, but not everyone has the time, capacity, or space to provide consistent guidance. I have had to learn that mentorship does not always come from one dedicated person. Sometimes it comes through conversations, observation, collaboration, and learning from people who are a few steps ahead.

What has worked well for me is being intentional about building relationships. Networking is not just exchanging contact information. It is social capital, and social capital is essential in business, nonprofit leadership, and community work. I make it a priority to reach out to people in my field and in related industries, including public health, philanthropy, mental health, social justice, education, and community development.

My advice is to approach networking with purpose, humility, and confidence. Know what you bring to the table. Do not only reach out when you need something. Build real relationships, follow up, support other people’s work, and stay visible. Some of Save Our Families’ strongest opportunities have come from conversations that turned into partnerships, funding leads, resources, referrals, or new ways to serve the community.

I would also tell people not to wait for permission to enter the rooms they belong in. Be willing to introduce yourself, ask thoughtful questions, and let people know what you are building. The right relationships can expand your vision, but you also have to be bold enough to make the first move.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saveourfamilies/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveourfamiliesorg
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/save-our-families/

Image Credits
Kayla Palmentera
Kristy Steele