Why we built Village Acres
A note from the family behind the platform.
A few years ago, we were standing in our kitchen with a newborn and a toddler, trying to figure out how to find someone trustworthy to help us. Our parents live far away. Our close friends were in different stages of life. We needed real help - not a stranger from a national app, but someone our neighbors could vouch for. Someone who felt like family.
We tried the big platforms. We waded through hundreds of profiles with no real way to know who we were actually dealing with. It felt like searching for a babysitter in a phone book. We wanted something that felt more like asking a neighbor for a recommendation - someone already woven into our community, not a stranger from a database of millions.
So we built Village Acres for Palm Beach County - our home. Every Villager on this platform is background-checked and personally reviewed before their profile ever goes live. No self-serve listings. No unverified strangers. Just neighbors helping neighbors, the way it used to be.
- Mike & Jordana, founders
Meet the family
What we're here to do
Village Acres exists for one reason: to make it easier for Palm Beach County families to find Villagers they can actually trust - community members already part of their neighborhood, not strangers from a national database.
We're not trying to be the biggest platform in the country. We're trying to be the most trusted one in your neighborhood.
Why we vet everyone
When one of our neighbors tells us, “I'd trust her with my kids,” that means something. That's the bar we hold ourselves to.
Every Villager who joins Village Acres goes through a Checkr background check - the same system used by major employers. But we don't stop there. Our team manually reviews every profile before it goes live. We look at experience, references, and whether the profile is complete and honest. If something feels off, the profile doesn't get approved. It's that simple.
This isn't a process we built to check a box. It's the process we'd want for our own kids. Because for us, it's not just policy - it's personal.
Checkr background check
Criminal history, sex offender registry, and identity verification - run on every single Villager before approval.
Manual profile review
A real person on our team reviews every profile. We look at experience, photos, and how they've described themselves. No rubber-stamping.
Local only - by design
We only serve Palm Beach County. That means our Villagers are genuinely local, not imported from somewhere else to fill a slot.
What we believe in
The values that shape every decision we make.
Trust is earned, not assumed
We don't let anyone list themselves on Village Acres. Every profile is reviewed because trust has to be earned - and we owe that to the families who rely on us.
Local means something
There's a difference between a stranger from across the country and someone who goes to your synagogue or picks their kids up at the same school. We believe in that difference.
Families come first
Every feature we build, we ask: does this make it easier and safer for families? If the answer is no, we don't build it. This platform exists for parents and kids - full stop.
No hidden costs, no surprises
Families pay a flat $5/month to browse Villagers. Joining as a Villager is always free to get started. We don't take booking fees or commissions. What you see is what you get.