about us
Our Sister Our Brother was founded in 2021 with a mission to keep families together and help them with small steps toward great futures. We support families affected by many factors, especially the child welfare system, including those also impacted by the criminal justice system. Our Sister Our Brother provides guidance to families facing challenges in both systems through education, consultations and connections to resources.
We partner with families and community members who can successfully engage and build trust with families. Together we create plans to overcome barriers, connect families to what they need; creating a safe and healthy home. We are committed to seeing a global return to a culture where we treat one another like our sister and our brother.
guiding principles
LOVE: We believe in treating our neighbor with love, especially in times of need. We often talk about compassion but are our actions truly rooted in love? We believe in leading with love and know that true help starts there. We strive to value each individual and their greatness within.
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AUTHORITY: Parents have the primary responsibility to make decisions for their family and keep children safe. The family home is a place that should be led by parents who create a space where children can grow. We honor the family perspective and believe different doesn't mean wrong. The right to rear children belongs to parents and should always remain there in a safe home.
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JUSTICE: Respect, integrity and fairness are essential in doing what is right for families. What families do not have in common makes us unique and special. We must utilize individual, equitable and thoughtful approaches to help us from causing unnecessary harm. Our opinions should never be a substitution for fact and our ignorance should inspire us to learn.
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UNITY: Working together to support families will benefit our entire society. We are stronger together and sharing the burden lightens the load. The family helps produce strong individuals who contribute to communities. If we all help strengthen our families, our children will grow to do the amazing things they are destined for.
how we work
We are here to listen and learn how we can help. Your voice is extremely important and key to action for our community and for your family. Families facing child welfare involvement, we can walk with you through your situation, explain child safety and related practices, help you advocate for your family, and support maintaining healthy relationships.
We can connect you to community organizations that have dedicated themselves to supporting families in the child welfare and other sectors of the justice system. Our team has many years of experience working in child safety in Arizona. We are committed to walking alongside you on the path you lead for your family.
our founder
Matthew Stewart, a former DCS employee of 10 years, began his work as a community advocate by launching the African-American Disparity Committee during his time with the Department of Child Safety. Stewart saw the disproportionality at which Black children were being removed by DCS and began his fight for family justice.
Stewart organized with community leaders and other organizations before creating Our Sister Our Brother, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families reunite with their children and prevent unnecessary removals. He is focused on action, advocacy and preserving families with an emphasis on correcting the extreme overrepresentation of Black children in Arizona foster care.
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Through Our Sister Our Brother, Stewart was on a mission to not only change the culture of how we respond to community needs and support families but also is committed to walking alongside families currently facing traumatic child removals. Educating the community, encouraging those within the system to treat families with respect, targeting leaders to inspire a return to treating our sisters and our brothers with love.
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In early 2023, Stewart became the Director of the Department of Child Safety, and began to lead systemic change in the system. Stewart is now back at Our Sister Our Brother, committed to building larger scale growth and opportunity for families in the Black community.