Birthdays and holidays can be a tough time for a child living in foster care. The fear of your birthday passing without a cake and presents is very real for these children. The same is true for the holidays: Will Santa remember me?
Fortunately for the children at HomeSafe, there are real life guardian angels in our community who ensure that every child knows the excitement of birthdays and joy of the holidays.
For the past three years, Kindness Shared Happiness Squared (KSHS) has been providing birthday and holiday gifts for the 20 children living at HomeSafe’s West Palm Beach campus. KSHS also provides HomeSafe with goodies throughout the year that our staff distribute as rewards for good behavior. This year, KSHS chose to extend birthday giving to the children at ALL HomeSafe campuses – 44 children in total!
KSHS also provides funding to HomeSafe at Christmas so direct care staff can take the children to the movies after their morning of opening gifts. KSHS remains engaged with HomeSafe children throughout the year as well through their Pets with a Purpose program.
Prior to the pandemic, four of our Libra Girls North clients visited the agency’s farm each month to partake in therapeutic activities with the animals. The outing is a favorite for the girls, who can’t wait for the in-person visits to start again. Other angels watch over the children of HomeSafe as well.
For more than 10 years, Karin and Todd Roesch have contributed gift cards, accompanied by personal notes, to every HomeSafe child on their birthday. They have brought smiles to the faces of hundreds of children over the years.
For five years, Birthday Smiles, Inc. of Palm Beach County founder Tamara Pilosi-Keith has been delivering a birthday package, including a personalized birthday cake, decorations, party supplies and a gift card, to each child at our West Palm Beach campus on their birthday.
Both the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller (OSJ) and the Alternative Motorcycle Club (AMC) host holiday parties for the children in our residential program. The children look forward to the festivities all year long – not only for the sweets and gifts – but to visit with their returning friends from AMC and OSJ.
The children from HomeSafe’s domestic violence prevention and counseling program, SafetyNet, also benefit from the kindness of others during the holidays. Two longtime friends of HomeSafe, Kristina Saltzman and Bette Parsons, identify community donors willing to “adopt” SafetyNet families and provide hundreds of gifts for children whose lives have been touched by domestic violence. At the annual SafetyNet Holiday Party each year, more than 60 children excitedly tear open the wrapping paper of gifts they never expected to receive.
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