Rally Family Visitation Services has been making big and small changes over the past year to strengthen Rally's work supporting safe and healthy kids, parents, and family systems in Marin County and across the Bay Area. They provided over 1,300 visits and exchanges last year to 339 children and adults. Rally serves kids and families navigating concerns in Family Court related to child abuse, child abduction, domestic violence, substance use, mental health and other parent behavioral issues providing Visitation Center-based professional services in Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo Counties.

Children have the right to be safe and free from abuse. Research also links the absence of parental contact with a wide range of negative health and life outcomes. This delicate intersection makes Rally’s work—and their laser focus on safety—essential.

So what’s new?
In October 2024, Rally re-opened access to their Marin County in-person visitation and exchange services, dormant since 2020.

In April 2024, Katharine Berg came onboard to steer Rally into its next chapter, after longtime director Sonia Melara retired. Ms. Berg brings two decades of experience in frontline Bay Area social services replacing cycles of violence and vulnerability with hope, joy and equitable access to critical resources.

Early next year, our San Mateo Visitation Center will relocate to an upgraded facility. Stay tuned for more details.

In between, the acquisition of Rally’s longtime home and source of cornerstone support, now UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital, on August 1, 2024 was a critical milestone, opening the door to a new era of leverage and opportunity.

These milestones, and Rally’s achievements over the past year—keeping kids safe, parents safe, and kids and parents connected through 1,300 safe visits and exchanges—spring from their partnerships, advocacy, and contributions. Without Rally’s services, the alternatives are few and often unsafe for children and/or adults. So, thank you!

To celebrate 34 years of ensuring the safety of high-risk and low-income families, please join Rally Family Visitation Services on April 24, 2025 for its annual fundraiser: Through the Eyes of Children. The event will take place at UC Hastings from 5:30 – 8:30. Corporate or individual sponsorships are available now from $500 - $2,500. Email katharine.berg@ucsf.edu to make a commitment to find out more.