We are thrilled to announce that our latest Beautiful Together project, Safe Showers For Homeless Youth, focused on improving the quality of life for impoverished youth in America – specifically, homeless youth who have recently cycled out of foster care and are struggling to find a home, a job, and a community – is now fully funded!
We are thrilled to be partnering with RunningWorks, as they expand their extraordinary, life-changing program with an additional focus on stopping the destructive cycle of homelessness. One of the major things we have learned is that, as helpful as homeless shelters can be, it is often difficult for homeless youth to figure out life on the streets, to learn how shelters and feeding programs work, to get transportation to and from life-changing opportunities – and so much more. In order to break away, there needs to be access to something as simple as showers, the ability to get clean, to feel better, to stay healthy in unhealthy environments. This is difficult for homeless youth for many reasons – not just the long lines they share with adults but also repeatedly being part of environments where they may not be prepared to protect themselves as needed. Some of the children RunningWorks assists are as young as 4 years old. Many are young teens who have left abusive or neglectful situations, a foster care system that repeatedly moved them from home to home (sometimes over ten times) for years, or they are simply kids who have made a mistake and now face the overwhelmingly daunting cycle of poverty.
We are so grateful to be able to supply Running Works with a set of private, portable showers and a generous supply of toiletries and towels, as well as some much-needed bus passes, so they can not only offer homeless youth showers on site, but they can also move the showers with them as they continue to grow as an organization.
An extra big thank you to Paul & Sarah Buck Casey, with whom I collaborated on the very fun multi-media kit Capturing Life Through (Better) Photography – their very generous donation brought us over the top on this. They do all kinds of good things in the world – and Sarah runs a gorgeous children’s clothing store called Puddle Baby. If you’re in the Chapel Hill area, check it out!!
It’s definitely a privilege to share this on #WorldKindnessDay, too. Sidenote: I’m all for #WorldKindnessYear (afterYearafterYear)!
And for all those who may wish to offer support to BeautifulTogether.org, our all-volunteer 501(c)(3) in support of children waiting for families, please consider our Feeding Fund. We send regular contributions to the Feeding Kitchen many of you helped to build in Korah, Ethiopia – and, as always, 100% of your donations will go directly to feeding children there who don’t have access to regular meals. You can learn more here: https://beautifultoget.wpengine.com/project/orphan-feeding-fund/
Lastly, if you’d like to learn more about the fantastic work being done by RunningWorks, check out this video, where Meredith Dolhare explains it all in excellent detail:
Thank you!
