After a year like this one, it can be easy to start feeling helpless in the face of overwhelming need. Will my $25 really help? Can I make a difference when the need is so deep? Does my contribution really matter?
The answer is a resounding “yes.” Now, more than ever, your generosity this Giving Tuesday has the power to transform lives.
The family shelter system in Massachusetts is exceeding capacity for the first time in the 40 years since MA became a “right-to-shelter” state for families experiencing homelessness. With astronomical housing prices and stagnant wages, thousands of families are struggling to get by. 4,000 children in Boston Public Schools alone experience homelessness every year and are at greater risk of chronic absenteeism due to housing instability and clothing and hygiene insecurity. Up to 17% of public college students in MA experience homelessness in a given year.
Thousands of migrant families are arriving in Massachusetts with only the clothes they are wearing, unprepared for the looming New England winter. Unable to obtain work visas, these families literally have no way to provide their children with winter hats, mittens, and coats. Many of these families are medically fragile; all are traumatized. They need hygiene products for health and dignity. Their babies need porta-cribs to sleep safely, whether they are in shelter or a temporary intake facility or overflow site like a convention center, college dorm, or office building. Without seasonally appropriate clothing, hygiene essentials, bedding, and towels, these families are at greater risk of ongoing health complications and compounded trauma.
Circle of Hope’s partner shelters and programs are seeing an increase in need across the board. Several partner programs are reporting a marked increase in the number of heavily pregnant women arriving in shelter with nothing for themselves or their babies. One partner family shelter had six births in September alone. Many of our partner programs are also seeing an increase in the number of older adults - particularly recent widows - seeking services. For the first time ever, we are regularly receiving requests for incontinence products like Depends. We are working diligently to meet the unique needs of each client we serve.
So this year, Circle of Hope needs your help more than ever to keep up with the growing humanitarian crisis in Massachusetts. Your donation puts gloves on the hands of a child waiting for the school bus, warm jammies on a newborn baby in shelter, well-fitting maternity clothes on an expectant mom who has been re-wearing the same sweats her whole pregnancy, menstrual products in the backpack of a teen who might otherwise miss school during her period, and clean socks and waterproof boots on the feet of a medically compromised man who spends his days outside while shelters are closed.
Every single dollar donated is a message of hope, support, and love for someone going through something as isolating and traumatic as homelessness. While we may not solve clothing and hygiene insecurity for everyone this Giving Tuesday, your gift has the power to make all the difference to an individual or family in Boston, letting them know that someone saw them in a moment of deep need and reached out a hand to help. Your compassion will change someone’s life.
