Cherish Families

What Cherish Families does

Cherish Families is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 that provides wraparound support services to individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds, primarily in northern Utah and the Utah-Arizona border region. Its service model is built on free, direct client support — covering crisis response, advocacy, case management, and referral coordination — delivered through a team of 15 or more staff, many of whom are recruited for their lived experience within the communities served. The organization positions itself as a bridge between an underserved population and mainstream social services, recognizing that cultural, religious, and legal complexities create barriers that generic providers are not equipped to navigate.

The organization operates two physical offices: one in Alpine, Utah, serving the Wasatch Front, and a second in Colorado City, Arizona, anchored near the Short Creek community on the Arizona Strip. Service delivery is funded through charitable donations and a paid tourism program called Short Creek Tours, which sells curated cultural-experience visits at $495 per participant. Cherish Families holds the Candid Seal Platinum 2025 transparency designation, indicating third-party validation of nonprofit accountability standards, and maintains coalition partnerships with the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition and the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, signaling institutional integration into the regional anti-violence infrastructure.

The business model is donation-driven with a modest earned-revenue overlay from tours. Services to clients are provided at no cost, so the organization has no transactional customer relationship with its primary beneficiaries; instead, the "customers" in a revenue sense are donors, tour participants, and grant-making institutions. There is no proprietary technology platform underpinning the service model — delivery is staff-led and relationship-based — and the organization has no disclosed AI, software, or data product components. Geographic concentration in two adjacent counties and reliance on a narrow donor base represent the primary operating constraints, while the dual-office model and tour program indicate deliberate steps to broaden reach and revenue mix.

Name

Cherish Families

Legal name

Cherish Families

Website

https://cherishfamilies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Cherish Families is a nonprofit founded in 2012 that delivers free wraparound support services to individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds in Utah and northern Arizona, operating offices in Alpine, UT and Colorado City, AZ with a 15-person staff funded primarily by donations and a paid tour program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services / Nonprofit Support Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family Resource Centers & Wraparound Support Services (EDACALAH)

Keywords

• Trauma-informed counseling
• Family support services
• Crisis intervention services
• Housing assistance programs
• Community outreach services

Headquarters

HQ city

Colorado City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations: One-time gifts, monthly recurring donations, tribute donations in honor of loved ones, and event or program sponsorships provide the primary funding for services.
2. Tours: Single-day guided tours of Short Creek area offered at $495 per person (max 30 participants), with proceeds supporting the organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cherish Families is a non-profit organization providing wraparound support services for individuals and families with polygamous backgrounds. The organization delivers trauma-informed, culturally responsive services across six core areas: crisis and victim support, counseling and emotional wellness, basic needs and housing, family and peer support, legal support referrals, and community education and outreach. It also operates paid Short Creek Tours as a community-engagement offering.

Product overview

Cherish Families is a non-profit organization providing wraparound support services primarily to individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds. The organization offers a coordinated suite of six core service programs: Crisis & Victim Support, Counseling & Emotional Wellness, Basic Needs & Housing, Family & Peer Support, Legal Support Referrals, and Community Education & Outreach. These services are delivered through a combination of direct service provision, peer support specialists, and community events. The organization also operates a self-service Client Intake Form and donations platform accessible via their website. Additionally, Short Creek Tours provide educational experiences that generate proceeds supporting the organization's mission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Crisis & Victim Support Immediate crisis response and victim support services for individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds facing acute trauma, abuse, or victimization. Delivered as part of Cherish Families' wraparound service model.
• Counseling & Emotional Wellness Trauma-informed counseling and emotional wellness services for individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds, delivered using a culturally responsive care framework.
• Basic Needs & Housing Material assistance and housing support for clients facing insecurity or transition, provided as part of the organization's wraparound service portfolio.
• Family & Peer Support Family- and peer-based support services designed to help clients navigate transitions and rebuild support networks within and beyond their polygamous-community context.
• Legal Support Referrals Referral-based legal support connecting clients to appropriate legal resources, integrated into the organization's wraparound service approach.
• Community Education & Outreach Education and outreach programming aimed at building awareness, reducing stigma, and engaging the broader community around the needs of individuals and families from polygamous backgrounds.
• Short Creek Tours Paid guided cultural tour of the Short Creek / Colorado City area for visitors and small groups, priced at $30 per person, $15 per child under 12, with group rates available. Up to 12 participants per tour.

Quantifiable outcome

• 22,411 therapy sessions provided
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ABC4 / Good Things UtahminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 October 2023Media partnership featuring Executive Director Alina Darger and Deputy Director Shirlee Draper on Good Things Utah news segment about services for polygamous communities.
• Utah Domestic Violence CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUDVC shares resources and features Cherish Families in educational videos. The coalition connects individuals with domestic violence resources including those specifically serving polygamous communities.
• Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic ViolencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferral partner providing crisis resources for individuals in Arizona. Listed as a key crisis resource alongside the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
• The Juvenile InstructorminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publication featuring Deputy Director Shirlee Draper's personal essay about her life growing up in the FLDS community and its impact on the community.
• Low-income housing programscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with housing programs to help clients apply for low-income and emergency housing, including financial assistance for deposits and rent through partner organizations.
• Rental assistance partnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organizations providing short-term help with rent or deposits to support housing stability for clients.
• Professional training organizationsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOrganizations providing NASW CE credits for staff training on serving individuals from polygamous backgrounds, including cultural competency and trauma-informed care courses.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence: A statewide Arizona coalition that serves as a referral partner for Cherish Families clients in crisis. Comparable mission scope of coordinating crisis resources for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors.
• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Statewide coalition coordinating domestic violence resources, including resource-sharing partnerships with Cherish Families. Functions as a referral and ecosystem partner within the same client population network.
• Community Action Partnership (Utah): Anti-poverty community action network providing housing assistance, basic needs, and case management to low-income families in Utah. Adjacent to Cherish Families through overlapping services in housing stability and basic-needs support.

Broad incumbents

• Catholic Community Services of Utah: Faith-affiliated nonprofit offering refugee resettlement, basic needs, housing, and family support across Utah. Operates with a similar wraparound services model and serves comparable at-risk populations in overlapping geography.
• YWCA Utah: Provides domestic violence, sexual assault, and family support services across Utah with a focus on women and families in crisis. Overlaps with Cherish Families on crisis intervention, safety planning, and trauma-informed counseling.
• Family Services of Utah: Formerly LDS Family Services, Family Services of Utah provides counseling, adoption, and family support across Utah. It operates in overlapping geographies and offers comparable family-and-individual support services, though it serves a broader, less niche population.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: The national crisis hotline and resource referral service for domestic violence survivors. Overlaps with Cherish Families' crisis intervention and legal referral functions at a national scale, serving as both a peer and a downstream referral partner.
• Volunteers of America Utah: A Utah-based chapter of a national nonprofit delivering housing, crisis, and family stabilization services. Comparable in offering wraparound community-based support to vulnerable populations in the same regional footprint as Cherish Families.

Direct peers

• Tapestry Solutions for Women and Families: A Utah-based domestic violence and family support organization providing shelter, counseling, and case management. Most comparable as a direct service provider serving women and families in crisis within the same regional catchment.

Emerging players

• International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA): An international organization focused on research, education, and support related to high-control groups and cult recovery. Shares thematic overlap with Cherish Families' focus on high-control community survivors, though at a research and advocacy rather than direct-service level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cherishfamilies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cherish-families

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cherish Families