February 19th, 2016
“The degree of loving can be measured by the degree of giving.”
-Edwin Louis Cole
Living out our value of Community and Giving Back, our Specialized Housing family did something pretty special just ahead of Valentine’s Day! The Residents and Colleagues of Specialized Housing delivered some special gifts to the homeless youth at Emmaus House.
The Residents and Colleagues of our Milk Street, Davis Road, Chadwick Road, and Mass Ave. residential homes met for weeks, coming up with a creative way to give back as part of their new WOW! Magic Weekends initiative, where they spend one weekend each month giving back to the community. As February approached, they had their answer. With Valentine’s Day coming up, they decided to gift Valentine’s packages to homeless children.
Once the plan was in place, our Colleague Beth reached out to Emmaus House to coordinate an effort. Working with Denise Arnold, the volunteer coordinator of Emmaus House, Beth found that they could provide a Valentine’s Day treat and memory for 40 children.
Our Residents and Colleagues joined together to fill 40 bags with goodies. We added ATI pens and water bottles, small packets of kool-aid flavors, paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, made little scroll’s out of coloring pages, and even included several small Valentine candies. Our Colleague Cheryl then sought donations from our Community Partners to add to the bag. Thank you to Denise’s Avon of Seabrook, NH who generously donated chapsticks, hand creams, hand sanitizers, and body washes for every bag. Thank you to Funny Bones who gave us a discount on crayons for each bag as well!
Then Friday morning came and our team headed over to Emmaus House. While most of the children, we were delivering the gift bags for were at school, a few of the little ones were around. Our Colleagues and Residents delivered the 40 bags, some directly to the children!
“On a day designed to show love in all its forms, we were pleased to play a small role in showing these families they are thought of despite the current hardship they face at this time in their life. We look forward to working more with this selfless cause and increasing our presence in the community through generous donations and valued time spent giving back,” said Beth Colbath, a residential manager in our Specialized Housing branch, and the organizer of the event.
Our Colleagues and Residents were in awe of the Homeless shelter that supports 40 families in this one shelter, with several other homes in the area. Our Colleagues Julie and Beth, who helped with the organization of this event, said they look forward to working with Denise and the Emmaus House in the future, as our Specialized Housing team creates more donations for the families they serve. And the team looks forward to donating their time as well.
Check out a few photos from our visit for Valentine’s Day below. Photos by American Training and Emmaus House Colleagues.
awesome! <3