Thank you....

The Holiday Season at The Homeless Families Foundation was once again very busy and festive. We would like to thank those who made the holidays a special time for our children and their families. With overwhelming community support we were able to provide a wonderful holiday for well over 200 children, helping over 100 families.

Your kindness and generosity have helped make a difference in the lives of our families. It is only through community partners like you that we are able to achieve our Mission to provide shelter, support, stability, and nurturing for homeless children and their families as they prepare to acquire and maintain permanent housing. We thank you again for your concern, support and generosity.

Evening Street Elementary

Children reaching out to other children – the third grade classes from Evening Street Elementary in Worthington gave the gift of their talents to the children at the Homeless Families Foundation. The Evening Street students wrote individual stories about a favorite animal. After illustrating their special stories, they donated a stuffed animal AND fashioned gift bags decorated as the animal described in their story. Adrienne Corbett, HFF Executive Director met with the children to talk with them about the challenges of being homeless and answered many thoughtful and insightful questions. Special thanks to Mrs. Smith who coordinates this activity.

This is a copy of the letter we received with a wonderful check!

Hello, my name is Annie Davis. I am a sixth grader at Saint Michael School in Worthington, Ohio. I was reading an article that said there was not enough room in the shelter to allow any more people in. I felt very bad; I have everything I need, and those people don't have even a warm blanket. That's when I though of an idea. I though that since I am a Christian, I need to do whatever it takes to protect God's people. I told Anna Sabatino, one of the four sixth grade student council members, my idea that we all bring in blankets. She took along Olivia Di Carlo as the guest that day, who helped persuade the student council to do something. They brought the idea up, but they all thought of a better idea. They thought we should gather money to send in so you could use it however you need.

We had a dress-down day on December 10, 2010 to raise money. Everyone who paid two dollars could dress our of uniform, while of course following our dress code. We raised over $1,000 dollars. Anna, Olivia, and I are very proud and happy to present the money to you today. We sincerly hope this will help with whatever you may need to purchase and allow more people in.

Yours truly,
Annie, Anna and Olivia

A Path to Hope and Home

The Magic of the Holidays is in the air....

City Year Volunteers...

City Year Volunteers helped orgainize and sort food boxes as well as putting together Thanksgiving food boxes for all our families...

Thanksgiving Celebration....

Jones Middle School prepared a lovely Thanksgiving meal for our families...Everyone had a wonderful evening...

Shoes....

The Homeless Families Foundation has been chosen by Payless ShoeSource to be part of this year’s Payless GivesTM Shoes 4 Kids program! We’re one of many nonprofit groups chosen to receive coupons to give to children in need. Children we serve here in our community will be able to redeem these coupons at Payless for a free new pair of shoes.

Magical Season of Giving....

Magical Season of Giving - Eastland Mall - please see this link to get information on how you can help The Homeless Families Foundation....

http://www.eastland-mall.com/go/mnogHome.cfm

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you and yours a very happy turkey day!

Holiday Information

As the holiday season is approaching we at The Homeless Families Foundation are looking forward to another successful season. Last year we were able to provide a wonderful holiday for approximately 225 children, helping over 100 families.

For the past several years we have set up a Holiday gift “store” where the mothers and fathers could go “shopping” to choose gifts for their children. We did this as a way to more involve the parents in the Holiday season. We helped current families and some previous families that found themselves still needing assistance.

We are going to be doing the same thing this year and are asking for donations for newborns through the age of 18. (See list below) We need to have new toys and clothing into our main office by Thursday, December 9th. We are also asking for donations of gift wrap, tags and tape.

It is such a joyous time at The Homeless Families Foundation and without community support we would not be able to provide such a wonderful Holiday for our families. We thank you in advance for your support.

Should you have any questions please call Karie @ (614) 461-9247 or by e-mail
kgallegos@homelessfamiliesfoundation.org

Wish List

Clothing
New sweatshirts/sweatpants/ jeans and tops all sizes both boys and girls
New underwear all sizes toddler to teenager both boys and girls
New socks all sizes toddler to teenager both boys and girls

Toys
Fisher Price toys
Lego sets
Learning toys (all ages)
Board games (monopoly, sorry, checkers, operation)
Popular DVD’s
Basketballs, Footballs, Soccer balls/ pumps
Diary’s with gel pens
Books (Harry Potter, Junie B Jones, Box Car Children etc)
Make-up and Hair accessories

Teenagers tend to get left out so we are asking for gift cards from: Target, Wal-mart, Old Navy, Famous Footwear, Bath & Body Works, AMC Movies, Best Buy, McDonalds etc.

On-Going shelter needs
Gift cards (Kroger, Wal-Mart, Target) $5/$10/$20
Pots and pans
Twin size bedding (sheets, blankets, pillows)
Bath & Kitchen towels
Cleaning supplies (409, Pine-sol, Dish Soap etc)
Lysol Disinfectant Spray & Wipes
Diapers/Wipes (all sizes)

Holiday Help

December 9th~ Donations should be dropped off by this day

December 6th-December 10th~ We need help setting up the holiday store & organizing general donations. The hours will be Monday-Thursday 9:00-4:30 and Friday 9:00-2:30.

December 13th-December 17th ~We will need help organizing the store and general donations, helping the families shop for their children and then gift wrapping the items. The hours will be Monday-Thursday 9:00-4:30 and Friday 9:00-2:30.

December 20th -December 22nd ~ Catch all days and we would need help straightening up the holiday store area as well as the donation room. The hours will be 9:00-4:30

January 3rd -January 7th~ We will need help cleaning out the holiday store and putting away general donations. The hours will be Monday-Thursday 9:00-4:30 and Friday 9:00-2:30.

Thank you in advance for your help this year we certainly could not do what we do at HFF without community support….

Give a Little: Family Volunteering: Give a Little: Family Volunteering

Give a Little: Family Volunteering: Give a Little: Family Volunteering

St. Joan of Ark - Food Box Drive

Thank you St. Joan of Ark for the abundance of food boxes and turkeys that were delivered today! Thank you to all the helpers that gave of their time today! With all your help we will continue our mission....To provide shelter, support, stability and nurturing for homeless children and their families as they prepare to acquire permanent housing...

Come Home for the Holidays.....

Adrienne Corbett, Executive Director,

with Lori and Don Overmyer

Cindi Schillig "Ask and Auctioneer"

HFF raised more than $100,000 at the

2010 Come Home for the Holidays
event at Brookside Country Club

Designs by Lucinda

The story of Lucinda - creator of Designs by Lucinda

Lucinda was always - and still is - known to be a uniquely creative person with strong sense of purpose and self direction. Growing up through the 60's, Lucinda fed her creativity by teaching herself jewelry design and craft - a skill that would serve her, and her community, well later on in life.

Due to divorce and financial setback, Lucinda and her daughter became homeless. This was unacceptable. So with the help of friends and family and the strength of will, she found a home and began anew.

With a roof over her head and a young child to support, Lucinda turned the cramped attic of her small apartment into a studio where she launched a line of fashion jewelry. It was 1983 and she was back on track. Over the next few years, demand for her work grew.

While designing her fall 1988 line of jewelry, Lucinda created a pin that was a simple, geometric representation of a house. This simple pin got Lucinda thinking about how she could help the community. She decided the pin would be a fund raiser for The Preble Street Resource Center, a community Breakfast Program in Portland, Maine. The idea behind the pin was to raise money for the organization and, at the same time, a greater awareness of homelessness in the community. The pin was a success on both counts. At that point Lucinda closed her fashion jewelry company and established a company with a conscience.

To learn more about Designs by Lucinda, visit her website at http://www.lucinda.com/

This is just a small sample of the pins we sell at The Homeless Families Foundation. Each pin sells for $15 and they make great gifts!

For more information on the house pins please call Karie @ (614) 461-9247

Theater at the Dowd Center

2010 Hero Awards

Marcus Salter was a recipient of the Hero Award yesterday. He is a former case manager with the Homeless Families Foundation and we are so proud of his accomplishment!

The 2010 Hero Award recipients we honored yesterday. Each of them brings a special passion to their work to end homelessness. Aren't they amazing?

In this photo: Ricketa Hurdle, Gladden Community House, Michelle Heritage Ward, Kevin Ballard, Gladden Community House, Donna Woods, Gladden Community House, Sherry Syx, Gladden Community House, Mardi Ciriaco, Gladden Community House, Erika Clark Jones, Sheila Prillerman, Citizen's Advisory Council, Marcus Salter, Lutheran Social Services-Faith Mission, Renna Abdullah, Salvation Army

Halloween Costumes

Can you believe tomorrow will be October 1st? Time certainly is flying by! This is a busy time of year for HFF. One of our current projects is to round up enough Halloween costumes for all our children. We currently have 110 children and what fun it would be to see them all dressed up on the 31st...If you have any questions please feel free to give Karie a call (614) 461-9247...

Skully's

SOUND EFFECTS AND CHANGE
FIRST ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT

Benefit for the Homeless Families Foundation on Tuesday, October 5th at Skullys in the Short North. Advanced tickets are $5.00 and $10.00 at the door. For more information you can contact Everett Jones at ejones@homelessfamiliesfoundation.org or by cell phone (614) ...506-8573.

http://www.skullys.org/calendar.htm

Upper Arlington Rotary

Celia Crossley, Bill Mielke, Steve LaRosa and Rozanne Landers at Upper Arlington Rotary luncheon. The U.A. Rotarians provided the funds and the labor to build a small barn on the playground at the Dowd Education Center. It will be used to store the outdoor toys and balls. We are very grateful to the Rotarians for their support of all of our programs.

Fall is in the air....

There is a touch of fall in the air this week and time is flying by! The kids started school this week, maybe you noticed the corn moon in the sky, college football is just days away. Having said that Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before you know it. We currently have 104 children in our program... and we would love each one to have a Halloween costume this year. We have newborns on up and what a fun time of year for all of them. If you have any questions please feel free to call Karie (614) 461.9247....Enjoy the weekend...

Mural

We have a new mural on the side of our builiding. Below is the background about the murals in the Franklinton Area...

The murals were produced by the Franklinton Arts District (FAD) at the annual Urban Scrawl event. FAD is a small group of individuals who have come together to improve the image and condition of Franklinton through the Arts. These artists, residents and activists are working to make Franklinton a place where people and businesses will come and stay.

The organization has been host to a number of events to date, everything from “instant gallery” events, to the popularly attended Urban Scrawl and recently, GO WEST. Urban Scrawl is held in Dodge Park and is currently in its 3rd year. Dozens of local artists and aspirants take advantage of the donated sheets of wood which they can fill with the product of their talents.

In the past FAD has kept all of the art produced. Some have been sold to raise funds for the organization while others have been donated to other groups like the Franklinton Board of Trade. Of course several pieces were reserved to be hung in the community as part of a Broad Street beautification initiative.

Back to School Project...

The Back to School project was a huge success! We were able to help 76 children with a new outfit, 8 teenagers went shopping and over 100 children in our program and in the Franklinton area with a back pack full of supplies! Thanks for all who contributed to the success....

Come Home for the Holidays...

Save the date for a fun evening...Wine and beer tasting, hot hors d'ouevres and dessert buffets all evening, silent and live auctions -- and lots of fun.

Friday, November 5th from 6:30-10:00
Brookside Golf and Country Club 2770 West Dublin-Granville Road