The Columbia 2nd Ward Young Women and Young Men Organizations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spent the holidays collecting  “Jeans for Teens”!

The donation from The Columbia 2nd Ward Young Women and Young Men Organizations is extraordinarily appreciated! Especially with the weather getting colder, jeans are a tremendous commodity! The material is durable, versatile and comfortable.

Hearts & Homes for Youth serves youth who have experience abuse, neglect or other trauma, and many of the youth come into our care with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. For all of our youth, and especially the youth in our emergency shelter, jeans are invaluable.

The Columbia 2nd Ward Young Women and Young Men Organizations decided in early December to collect jeans for fellow teens who are overcoming adversity. They said that having jeans to wear will help teens feel more like the fit in among their peers and can be worn longer between washing. The inspiring group of youth recognized that they, as well as their families, friends and neighbors, have good jeans that are never worn. They encouraged the community to donated good, clean jeans of varying sizes. In addition to several sweatshirts, clothing, and toys, the youth group collected a total of 90 jeans! They also took the time to write inspirational thoughts on pieces of paper that they put into a pocket of each pair of jeans!

Hearts & Homes for Youth is grateful to this youth group for the generous support and for thinking of the needs their peers across the state of Maryland, and how to make the New Year a little bright for them.

Thank you everyone for fulfilling our youth’s wish lists and responding to our requests for especially needed items! This holiday season is going to be one filled with warmth and cheer for our youth, thanks to you!

Thank you Centrus for the incredible gifts for our young mothers and babies! The gifts of basic necessities, care products, and educational toys will help our young mothers enormously! In 2007, Centrus’ headquarters office in Bethesda selected HHFY to be our primary charitable giving recipient, and we have been a steady sponsor of the organization ever since. This support has included direct corporate donations, event sponsorships, and donation drives (holiday wish lists, coats, suits, school supplies), as well as organizing events for their children such as a holiday party at the emergency shelter and a career day at our headquarters.

Thank you Reverend Anthony Farmer and everyone from Visions of the Heart Spiritual Life Center in Takoma Park for paying it forward and spreading Christmas cheer! Our boys will be grateful for the socks, sweatpants, clothes, gift cards, metro cards, winter coats and much more that you have gifted to them this holiday season!

Silver Spring United Methodist Church hosts the Angel Tree project every year and for many years, they have chosen us as a recipient of their generosity. Thank you Rebecca McGinnis for bringing the gifts to our office today and thank you for being so good to our kids for so many years!

Thank you Lynn Walker from Packaged for Success! Every year, Packaged for Success, a great organization started by Nicki and JaMai Sanders, give Hearts & Homes for Youth purses filled with personal care items from their Pack a Purse Drive! Thank you for this special treat that our girls will love!

We like to give a big thank you to Ms. Chante Bennet who held a toy and gift card drive for our Damamli Mother-Baby Program last Saturday! We received toys, baby items, and a donation of $180 to purchase Christmas gifts for our young mothers and their children. Thank you for thinking of our young mothers and babies Ms. Chante Bennett!

Thank you Peter Rosenfelder from Edleman Finacial Services LLC, Joanne Van Blake, Carey Miller, Mandy Miller, Sue Baker, Sherri Vucci, Dawn Peterson, Northrup Grumman, Barbara Jordan, Jones Lang LaSalle, Nicole and Brent Harkin, Embrace Home Loans, Tonya Harris and Council of the Great City Schools, Laura Rosenberg and Congregation B’Nai Tzedek, Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., Joanne Hill and your congregation from SDA Church in Takoma Park, Jeannette and Hala Hasan, Girl Scout Troop 1168 and many more!

All of us at Hearts & Homes for Youth are grateful for the outpouring of support and donations we have received for the Holiday Spirit Gift Drive! Happy holidays to you and your loved ones!

All of us at Hearts & Homes for Youth are grateful for the outpouring of support and donations we have received for the Holiday Spirit Gift Drive! We have received an abundance of baby clothes and toys, and many of our teens wish lists have been answered. It is incredible and heartwarming to see so many people giving to make the holidays a little brighter and a little warmer for all of the youth in our care!

There is still a need for some specific items to bring cheer into our programs! We are asking specifically for sweatpants, sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks and underwear. We needed sizes from small to extra large. Many of the youth who come into our care, especially our teenage boys, come with nothing and have no support system beyond our program. We need your help to give our teens comfort and the confidence that someone believes in them! 

If you would like to arrange a pick up or drop off, please contact Hazel Eguia at heguia@heartsandhomes.org.

We greatly appreciate your support and consideration! It is a simple gift that would make a huge difference!

Hearts & Homes for Youth is excited to announce that on Giving Tuesday, we raised over $5,300 for our art therapy campaign!

“100% of the money raised will directly support our art therapy program,” said Hearts & Homes CEO Chloe Perez. “We are so grateful to our supporters and thrilled to dedicate this money to our art therapy program so as to extend this great service to many more of our youth! For many of our kids who have experienced trauma, art therapy enables them to work through the barriers that have limited their capacity to succeed. “

With this money, we will be able to buy an abundance of art supplies and hold art therapy sessions each week at two other groups for the next six to seven months!

We know how many days of art therapy we can afford with the money raised, however the impact is immeasurable! Thank you to all of our supporters!

Thank you Cynthia Jones for the suits and designer clothing you donated to our youth! We brought the clothes to our Jumpstart Group Home for boys ages 17-21 and they loved them!

The boys immediately tried on the clothes and are excited to wear them tomorrow at the Action Civics Workshop provided by Legislative Director Tia Holmes, Delegate Cory V. McCray, Delegate Alonzo Washington, Lawrence Stafford Jr. from Progressive Maryland, and Director of Youth and Parent Services Community Public Awareness Council Kendal Wade! Thank you Cynthia for helping make our young men feel special, important, and supported!