We’re excited to invite you to a special Holiday Open House on Wednesday, December 11th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM at Circle of Hope. This festive gathering is a wonderful opportunity to connect with our staff, celebrate the incredible volunteers and community that make our work possible, and learn more about our services. Enjoy holiday treats and beverages, tour our space, and see firsthand how your support is helping those in need. We hope you can join us! Clothing and hygiene donations will be gratefully accepted throughout the event.
Help COH provide inclusive support to everyone in need across the lifespan.
Dear Friends of Circle of Hope,
Personal dignity is the most essential building block to good health. Your partnership is critical as we work to preserve this fundamental human right. Working throughout our region, Circle of Hope provides monthly deliveries of clothing, bedding, and hygiene items to thousands of people experiencing homelessness. New clothes, a warm coat, and basic necessities can provide not only immediate health and comfort but also the first glimmer of hope necessary to begin a journey toward a stable future.
From infants to elders, Circle of Hope is the only nonprofit in Greater Boston that provides this type of inclusive, individualized support to everyone in need across the lifespan.
Unfortunately, the humanitarian crisis in our state continues to grow, and many more families in our community are being pushed to the brink. In 2024, Circle of Hope rose to meet the need— ensuring shelter shelves were stocked, new mothers and babies were supplied, and students had the items they needed to feel confident.
Your generosity is the driving force behind this work, allowing Circle of Hope to bring care and comfort to more than 26,000 children and adults each year—people like the women and children seeking shelter at Voices Against Violence, our nonprofit partner featured in this letter.
Crisis also provides clarity. Circle of Hope’s work is the critical backbone for so many nonprofits serving our community. The monthly supplies we provide are the foundation of good health and equity. As we look to the future, our team is embarking on a strategic plan to evolve our services for even greater reach.
Quite simply, we cannot do this work without you. Please give a gift to our annual campaign by December 31, 2024. Each dollar you provide enables us to purchase more clothing and supplies and say yes to the many nonprofits on our waitlist.
Thank you for your continued generosity, compassion, and support. Your partnership is critical as we expand our impact to help more people in need.
With my deepest gratitude,
Ari Barbanell, Executive Director
Support Circle of Hope with Target Circle
Exciting news! Circle of Hope is now part of Target Circle™! Vote for us and help direct Target funds to support our mission. Here’s how:
Step 1: Choose ‘My Target’ in the Target app or ‘Account’ on Target.com
Step 2: Tap ‘Cast votes’
Step 3: Find us & vote
Can’t find Circle of Hope? If your home Target store isn’t near Boston, try setting it to a location closer to the city—like Watertown or Everett.
Not a Target Circle member yet? Sign up for free at target.com/circle or through the Target app.
Earn a vote with every eligible Target purchase, whether you’re shopping in-store or online! Each vote helps us continue supporting neighbors in need.
Don’t forget to share the love—spread the word and show your support for us (and a big thank you to Target!) on social media while voting is open. Every shoutout helps make a difference!
Summer Updates on the MA Humanitarian Crisis
Homelessness has been rising in MA and nationwide for several years, but it has surged beyond the state’s family shelter capacity in 2023 and 2024.
5,000 Boston Public Schools students experienced homelessness this academic year
This summer, the Boston Globe reported that more than 5,000 Boston Public Schools students experienced homelessness during the 2023-2024 academic year - a 17% increase over the past several years. This represents about 10% of the total student population. Students who experience homelessness may struggle to attend school due to lack of transportation, frequently moving between shelters and districts, poorer sleep and more frequent illnesses, and lack of access to basic essentials like well-fitting clothing and hygiene items like menstrual products. They experience higher rates of chronic absenteeism, lower standardized test scores, and lower graduation rates than their stably housed peers.
Logan Airport overnight ban takes effect July 9
Effective July 9, families are no longer permitted to sleep at Logan Airport, where hundreds of people had sought shelter since last fall when the family shelter system first reached capacity. Families who are on the Emergency Assistance waiting list are being transported to new temporary shelter facilities, including a recently refurbished former prison in Norfolk. Others - including parents with infants and young children - aren’t sure where they will go next.
Extreme heat increases risks to those experiencing homelessness
The City of Boston has already declared several heat advisories this summer, advising residents to take precautions against the dangers of extreme heat, which include heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and even death. These precautions, like staying hydrated, wearing sunscreen to avoid sunburn, and staying in an air conditioned facility, may be much more difficult for those experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Moreover, our neighbors experiencing homelessness tend to have higher rates of chronic illnesses which make them more vulnerable to heat-related dangers.
Circle of Hope’s partners are all seeing an increase in need
Over the past year, Circle of Hope’s partner programs doubled and tripled their requests for help as use of their services surged. Use of the on-campus resource center at Framingham State University, for instance, is up 100% from last year. Our partner family shelters are at capacity and our partner overnight shelters for individual adults are overcrowded as they desperately try to help as many people as possible.
In 2023, we served 16% more people than in 2022, and already this year we have launched two new partnerships to meet the growing needs of families experiencing homelessness and trauma. Many of these families recently migrated to Massachusetts to escape violence in their home countries. We partnered with Eliot Community Human Services MSPCC Early Arrival Program in Revere earlier this year to serve 57 newly arrived moms in their third trimester of pregnancy. Coming from warmer climates, they had no seasonally appropriate clothing for themselves or their children, and nothing at all for their babies as they neared their due dates. In the first month of our partnership, eight women gave birth, and Circle of Hope was there with Welcome Baby Bags, clothing, and postpartum essentials for the moms and newborns.
We also partnered with Voices Against Violence, a domestic violence shelter operated by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) in Framingham. We provide clothing and hygiene essentials to survivors of domestic violence and their children who are sheltered in a protected location. Survivors of domestic violence experiencing homelessness face additional challenges as they navigate issues of safety and confidentiality when they seek shelter and stable housing. By providing them with well-fitting clothing and hygiene products for their whole family, Circle of Hope is taking one obstacle out of their path to recovery.
This spring, we made our first delivery to Winthrop Elementary School in Boston, providing clothing and hygiene essentials to children staying in emergency shelters. We are having conversations with Boston Public Schools to determine how best to continue serving the increasing number of students in deep need.
How to help
You can help by donating new and gently used clothing and hygiene essentials for infants, children, and adults, joining our Go-To Crew to get email alerts about our urgent donation needs, running a collection drive or organizing a volunteer event to assemble Get Set packages, Welcome Baby Bags, and other donation kits, or giving a gift to support our work.
New Go-To Crew Request: Sunblock and women's socks
With longer, sunnier days comes an urgent need for sunblock at our partner shelters and programs.
Please donate new, unopened bottles of sunblock and new women's socks ASAP so we can include them in all of our summer deliveries! Sunblock lotion is preferred over spray.
Drop off your donations from 10am - 12pm Mondays through Thursdays before July 26 (please note we are closed July 3-7). Our donation center is located at 1329 Highland Avenue in Needham Center. Get directions.
Your donations will help children and adults experiencing homelessness stay healthy and safe on the sunniest days. Thank you very much for being part of our amazing Go-To Crew!
Get Your Group Involved
We know sunblock is expensive these days, so get a little help from your friends! Run a collection drive with your colleagues, classmates, or members of your community group to gather bottles of sunblock and/or new socks for the people we serve. Learn more about how to run a drive.
Spring/Summer News from Circle of Hope
Spring Partner Updates
In April, we launched our Crisis Response Campaign to support our ongoing response to the humanitarian crisis in Massachusetts. This spring, we launched two new pilot partnerships to expand our services to moms, children, and infants experiencing homelessness.
In March, we made our first delivery to the Eliot Community Human Services MSPCC Early Arrival Program in Revere to serve nearly 60 heavily pregnant moms in shelter. In the first month of our pilot partnership, EIGHT of those moms gave birth! The newborn and postpartum period can be a fragile time for all new moms and babies, but even more so for moms bringing their newborns home to a shelter. We're providing essentials for health, comfort, and dignity for the moms and newborns to support a strong and healthy start in life and motherhood.
In April, we launched a new pilot partnership with Voices Against Violence (VAV), a domestic violence shelter operated by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC)! We are providing clothing and hygiene essentials to survivors of domestic violence and their children.
We also made our first delivery to Winthrop Elementary School in Dorchester in May, providing clothing, new shoes, socks, and Dignity Bags full of hygiene products to 50 students experiencing homelessness and living in shelters. Many of these students have had to move frequently from shelter to shelter, and having reliable access to basic necessities gives them a small sense of stability. We're proud to provide essentials to keep them healthy and safe and enable them to attend school comfortably and confidently.
Celebrating Impact at Hope Blooms
On Thursday, June 13, more than 100 guests gathered at Gore Place in Waltham to celebrate hope, community, and impact at Hope Blooms!
We were delighted to present the 2024 Hope Award to longtime Circle of Hope volunteer, Judy Waterhouse, whose dedication to our mission has helped tens of thousands of people experiencing homelessness over the past 16 years.
Our deepest thanks to Emcee Karen Anderson from WCVB's 5 Investigates for helping make the evening extra special and to Guest Speaker Mark Goldschmidt for sharing several moving stories about his remarkable students at Framingham High School and their families.
View our full Hope Blooms photo gallery, as well as a video featuring our partnership with Framingham High School, on our website. We are very grateful to Presenting Sponsors Louise & Peter Donovan, Field of Hope Sponsors Needham Bank and Lizbeth & George Krupp, and every sponsor, donor, guest, vendor, and supporter who made Hope Blooms such a success.
There is still time to support Circle of Hope's Fund-A-Need and help provide clothing, hygiene essentials, and other necessities to thousands of people experiencing homelessness. Your gift will help Circle of Hope continue expanding our services as homelessness dramatically increases statewide.
Buy A Cone. Change A Life.
We're thrilled to share that Scoops for Hope is back this Mother's Day at Volante Farms in Needham! From May 11-19, Volante Farms will generously donate $1 to COH for every ice cream treat sold. Treat Mom (and yourself) to an ice cream and help moms and babies experiencing homelessness stay healthy and safe.
Our deepest thanks to Volante Farms for continuing this wonderful and impactful tradition. You have helped so many moms in need already!
Crisis Response Campaign Updates
Lisa (right) from Eliot Community Family Services MSPCC Early Arrival Program picking up donations for eight new moms and babies in shelter.
THANK YOU to everyone who has supported our Crisis Response Campaign by donating, sharing, or organizing a fundraiser or collection drive!
Since our campaign began...
8 of the 57 pregnant moms at our new pilot partner shelter in Revere have given birth! We sent Welcome Baby Bags and clothing to Eliot Community Human Services MSPCC Early Arrival Program for all the new moms and babies to help them get a strong and healthy start.
We launched another pilot partnership with Voices Against Violence (VAV), a domestic violence shelter operated by South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC). We made our first delivery of clothing and hygiene essentials for survivors of domestic violence and their children last week!
We made our very first delivery to Winthrop Elementary School in Dorchester, providing clothing, new shoes, socks, and Dignity Bags full of hygiene essentials to 50 students experiencing homelessness and living in shelters.
We're so excited to share that Louise Donovan and COH Board Chair Peter Donovan have generously extended their matching gift through the month of May! Donate to the Crisis Response Fund this month and your gift will be matched up to $10,000.
Your gift allows us to accept new partnerships off our waiting list and help families in deepest need. We're incredibly grateful for your support and kindness!
