In an article titled “Fostering Her Spirit,” Bethesda Magazine wrote about one of the young people at our Helen Smith Group Home for girls. The article highlights a time she aspired for a dream and the breadth of support she received from the Hearts & Homes for Youth community.
In sharing her story, the article gives the reader a snapshot of the challenges and trauma many of our youth are overcoming, and the difference that your support makes!
Click here to read the article
AOL‘s office in Baltimore hosted an art event last week where employees painted canvasses for Hearts & Homes for Youth’s residential facilities, to complement the homelike environments!
About 30 employees stepped away from work to learn more about Hearts & Homes for Youth and create beautiful art with inspiring messages. The art is being placed at various residential facilities for the youth, to show them the support they have from the community.
In addition to the beautiful art, AOL also donated boxes of school supplies. Youth are referred to Hearts & Homes for Youth on an ongoing basis – the donation of school supplies is incredibly helpful to ensure the youth have needed supplies for academic success!
The event was organized by Amy Rogers from AOL who provided the art supplies and some of the school supplies out of pocket. Her generosity, the support she garnered from her team at AOL, and the incredible donations from the company are greatly appreciated!
We are grateful to our donors and supporters who are helping set our kids up for success in the new school year!
Hearts & Homes for Youth would particularly like to thank Social and Scientific Systems for providing us again this year with new backpacks and school supplies that went to the youth in our group homes and in our therapeutic foster care program! We are also grateful to our friends from A-G Associates for providing us with backpacks and school supplies that went directly to some of the youth in our therapeutic foster care program as well as the children of our teen mothers who are beginning preschool!
We are also grateful to the Visions of the Heart community for providing us with school supplies to outfit youth newly entering our programs, to longtime supporter Kathryn Turner and the Columbia Center for Spiritual Living who both gifted Hearts & Homes monetary donations that went toward beautifying our group homes to create a more homelike environment, to Comfort Cases for a donation of sports attire and equipment for our youth getting ready to begin school sports, and to Reid Temple A.M.E for a generous donation of food and household items for all of our programs.
We are grateful to our friends at A-G Associates for donating brand new backpacks filled with school supplies for various genders and ages! The backpacks went directly to foster youth in our Therapeutic Foster Care program who were grateful for the stylish and colorful new backpacks!
Outfitted with new backpacks and school supplies, the children and teens in our care are set up to have a great start to the school year and given a boost of confidence. These donations help our youth feel encouraged and empowered to succeed.
Thank you Reid Temple A.M.E. Church for your generous donation of food, household items, cleaning supplies, drinks, and diapers! The donations have gone directly to the programs to immediately make a difference for the kids and teens in our care! Thank you for your support as we teach life skills to these young people!
Hearts & Homes for Youth is grateful to Social & Scientific Systems, Inc. for once again providing us with a massive donation of new backpacks and school supplies for the youth in our programs!
We are grateful for their support every year and can’t wait to pass the beautiful – blue, grey, red, navy, pink, and purple colored – backpacks on to the youth in our care!
Social and Scientific Systems, Inc is building the confidence and esteem of the youth in our care with these new school supplies! #empoweryouth#brighterfutures #community
This week Hearts & Homes for Youth’s incredible Social Workers assembled welcome baskets for the young mothers entering our Damamli Independent Living Program! As you can see in the picture, the welcome basket includes cleaning supplies and hygiene products.
Life skills training, which includes cooking, cleaning, self care, banking, and more, is one of many supportive services we provide to the youth in our care as part of our mission to empower the youth to build brighter futures.
We are grateful to our supporters who regularly donate household items, hygiene products, and so much more that support the healing, growth, and development in the youth in our care!
If you are interested in donating, please send an email to Caitlin Ward at cward@heartsandhomes.org
We are so grateful to this group of young supporters who held a lemonade stand over the weekend to raise money for Hearts & Homes for Youth! We presented them with certificates to show our appreciation for their goodwill efforts. We are grateful for their support!
Hearts & Homes for Youth recently received some gently used furniture in great condition from a supporter in the community. The furniture will go directly to our program facilities to beautify the spaces and make them more homelike for the youth in our care.
With over 300 kids coming through our programs each year, we have a constant need for support and are immensely grateful for gifts such as this recent donation of gently used furniture!
Each year Hearts & Homes for Youth continues to advance its mission of empowering youth to build brighter futures by providing them with mental health, academic, vocational, and other supportive services in a homelike environment where they heal, grow, and develop.
Hearts & Homes for Youth has been able to sustain the homelike environments thanks to volunteers from BB&T Bethesda, BB&T Hunt Valley, Fort Meade, UPS, CarMax Laurel, and many more who have helped us repaint the interiors, power wash the exterior, repaint the porches, clean the yards, and much more at various residential programs. Last year we were gifted with 98 pieces of furniture from Bob’s Discount Furniture, which had a significant impact on the young people’s spirits, staff morale, and the beauty of the residences. We were also gifted with a kitchen renovation and yard improvements at Kemp Mill Group Home by Coakley Williams.
The goal of Hearts & Homes for Youth is to empower youth who have been abused, neglected or experienced other trauma to make positive life choices and build brighter futures. With the help of donations from supporters, we are better able to provide the best quality of care for youth.
Socks and UnderwearWe need new and unused socks and underwear in all sizes for both boys and girls, from elementary school through high school.
We have an ongoing and critical need for athletic shoes for both boys and girls. We need all sizes, from youth size 12 through adult size 13. Currently, we have a shortage of boy’s shoes in elementary sizes 8-13 (2-7) and middle/high school sizes 7-12 and girl’s shoes elementary sizes 8-10 and middle/high school sizes 7-11.
Currently, we need t-shirts, pants, jeans, shorts, jackets, and sweatshirts for elementary, middle, and high school boys and girls.
We are in need of educational baby toys for youth ranging from newborn to five-years-old. Educational toys are critical tools for learning and development. We need these brain-boosting and skill-building learning toys for the infants and toddlers in our care.
We are in constant need of diapers for the young mothers in our care. Diapers are expensive; your support for the young mothers in our care makes a huge difference!
We need household items including kitchenware, silverware, and plates for the group homes and young mother units.
You can bring donations directly to our office at 3919 National Drive, Suite 400, Burtonsville, MD 21045 between 9am and 4:30pm and we’ll begin distributing them immediately! You can also email Caitlin Ward at cward@heartsandhomes.org to schedule a pick up or delivery. We appreciate all donations! Thank you for your support!