At Horizons for Homeless Children, we're springing into a busy season of literacy fun, powerful playtimes, robust workshops, and sunset soirees! Read all about the great work happening in our statewide Playspaces, Family Partnerships program, and Early Education Center alongside some powerful words from our leadership and learn how our partners are helping give back to the community.
Horizons Hosts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu
Horizons recently hosted a roundtable discussion and press conference with city officials, advocates, and Horizons parents to discuss the impacts of poverty on young children. Partner organizations and Horizons parents contributed their perspectives to a robust discussion on the challenges and opportunities of early childhood homelessness. Following the conversation, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced new federal funding to supplement the work of eight local early education providers serving families in the City of Boston. Read the compilation of press coverage on Horizons' website.
Concord quietly welcoming migrants to local emergency shelter
The town of Concord has “been a wonderful model for what a community can do when it welcomes a group of new folks,” said Horizons’ CEO and President, Kate Barrand. Last year a motel was converted into an emergency shelter there and a partnership with Horizons has meant child residents are now benefiting from Horizons’ Playspace program. Read the full article in The Concord Bridge.
It’s Spring cleaning time at Horizons! Thank you to the Audax Group and to Spero Therapeutics through our Life Science Cares partnership for supporting Horizons by spending a day making a Playspace shine. And thank you in advance to upcoming Playspace Shines volunteers Liberty Mutual, Turner Construction Company, and PNC Bank!
Playspace Shines are fun team bonding engagement opportunities for coworkers to help clean, organize, and restock a shelter Playspace to support young children experiencing homelessness. Playspaces are beautiful trauma-informed playrooms in shelters filled with books, toys, games, and arts and crafts. These spaces allow children living in shelter to have a safe place to play, use their imagination, overcome trauma, and just have fun. With over 60 Playspaces throughout Massachusetts, we could not keep our Playspaces in great shape for children living in shelter without the help of our corporate partners!
Horizons Celebrates National Reading Month
Read Across America Day on March 2 was established to bring awareness to the power of reading, but Horizons' early educators wanted to bring this awareness to our youngest learners and their caregivers by extending the literacy day to the whole month! Often, imagination and learning start with the opening of a book. In partnership with Raising a Reader, Horizons offered parent workshops (in 3 languages) focused on reading strategies. And for students, educators made reading fun with festive decorations and visits from their favorite characters like The Cat in the Hat and Pete the Cat. It was a joyful month of literacy fun!
Secure your spot now and help change the lives of children and families experiencing homelessness!
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