2020 Annual Campaign

Dear Friends,

When the COVID-19 crisis erupted, Circle of Hope immediately pivoted toward disease prevention to protect the lives of vulnerable children, women, and men who are homeless. Since March, we have provided more than 60,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), hygiene essentials, and new clothing to homeless families and individuals. Our efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 in homeless shelters and healthcare clinics are working.

“It's amazing to see that your organization is still making these essential deliveries during this time. It truly means a lot," said a staff member at On The Rise.

It’s getting colder now, and the need for winter coats and clothing is growing as families lose work due to COVID-19. The family shelters we serve cannot accept gently used clothing or coats this winter. Last year, we gave 5,500 winter coats to children and adults experiencing homelessness, helping protect them from frostbite and hypothermia. In order to provide the same number of winter coats this year, we desperately need your help to buy new coats for the vulnerable families we serve.

Can you help us protect homeless families and individuals from COVID-19 and cold this winter?

Please donate to our Annual Campaign by December 31, 2020 to protect the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors throughout this crisis and beyond. Your donation will directly allow us to supply homeless families with the new coats, warm clothing, face masks, soap, and hygiene supplies they need to keep themselves and their children safe and healthy.

Thank you for your incredible continued support. Our COVID-19 response is literally saving lives and we couldn’t do it without you.

Most gratefully,

Barbara Waterhouse

Founder, Executive Director

Fall Plans - Update

Dear Friends of Circle of Hope,

After extensive discussions with our staff and Board, we have concluded that we must extend our current COVID-19 policies through the end of 2020. It is not safe to accept donations of gently used clothing at this time. We need to be 100% certain we are not putting a single staff member, volunteer, donor, or homeless recipient at risk of COVID-19, so we will continue providing only new donations to homeless families, individuals, and clinic patients for the rest of this year. On-site volunteering is also postponed.

We know so many of you, our dedicated donors and volunteers, are eager to join us in our vital work and help us provide essential donations to homeless infants, children, and adults in Greater Boston. We are incredibly grateful for our compassionate and generous family of volunteers and donors at Circle of Hope. More than anything, we hope to see the COVID-19 crisis under control soon. We miss you and want to be together with you in person!

Right now, you can help the vulnerable families and individuals we serve. The need for our donations will be greater than ever this winter, as families struggle with lost wages due to COVID-19. Please run a collection drive to gather new masks or soap, purchase and assemble "COVID Kits" for homeless families, or shop for the specific items homeless patients and shelter residents need.

Click here for more information on how you can help.

Please reach out to us any time with questions - or just to say hello! We will continue sharing updates via social media, e-newsletter, and on our website, so please keep in touch.

Thank you for your generosity, patience, and understanding. Together, we are helping thousands of our homeless neighbors in crisis. We hope you and your loved ones remain healthy and safe.

Most gratefully,

Barbara

Looking Ahead to Fall

Hello All,

We have missed you so very much and hope you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy.

Circle of Hope has changed dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, yet our mission remains unchanged and our resolve to help unhoused people more determined than ever. We launched our COVID-19 response from the solid foundation of our Emergency Response Program and pivoted operations to focus on hygiene and toiletry items. Under their COVID-19 precaution protocols, the shelters and clinics couldn’t accept our gently used clothing. We applied for COVID-19 emergency funds and purchased new clothing essentials for the neediest patients and shelter residents.

We are so grateful for what we’ve accomplished during this pandemic and what our donations and service have meant to the people whose lives we’ve protected. Since March, Circle of Hope made 76 contactless deliveries to our partner shelters and clinics thanks to a small crew of drivers. We secured and packaged nearly 42,000 items for delivery, including 7,855 PPE items, something we never dreamed we would need to find and deliver during a public health crisis. Our mighty team transformed the inside of Circle of Hope into a “warehouse style” facility without missing a single emergency call for help.

As the myriad COVID-19 challenges continue, we are making thoughtful and strategic changes to safely move forward, keep us all safe, and help us serve and protect even more people who are homeless in the days to come.

Looking ahead. . .

We are hopeful that we’ll be able to start accepting gently used clothing donations in the fall on a limited basis. We are still working on new safety protocols and procedures for donation collection and handling. As a precaution, we will be asking donors to pre-sort donations at home and drop them at Circle of Hope. We will provide instructions for the new protocols on our COVID-19 page, so please stay tuned.

Please keep an eye on our website and social media for updates. We wish you peaceful, healthy days for the remainder of summer. We are so looking forward to seeing you soon!

With gratitude,

Barbara

Summer COVID-19 Response Summary and Updated Report

What an impactful summer at Circle of Hope! In June and July alone, Circle of Hope made 34 deliveries to our partner shelters, clinics, and programs. We provided 20,000 essentials for health to homeless families and individuals, including 4,000 PPE items to protect them from COVID-19.

We updated our COVID-19 Response Report to include our deliveries, stories, and impact from June and July. Our summer highlights are summarized below. To read the full updated report, please click here.

We resumed deliveries to Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), Fenway Health, and Framingham State University (FSU). For various reasons, these three partners were more difficult to reach in the earliest months of the COVID-19 crisis. BHCHP and Fenway Health both set up COVID-19 testing sites and BHCHP has been actively treating COVID-19 patients. FSU closed its campus when the COVID-19 crisis began.

With persistent outreach and careful planning, Circle of Hope is back to providing hygiene supplies, hand soap, sanitizer, face masks, and essential new clothing to students and patients who are experiencing homelessness at these locations. Homeless students can now access Circle of Hope donations by appointment through the Rams Resource Center food pantry on campus. BHCHP employees now pick up donations for their Transgender Program and other clinics. We made two deliveries to Fenway Health in July, including a 24-hour emergency response, providing new clothing in the correct sizes for an individual in the Violence Recovery Program there.

This summer, we received several generous grants to fund our shelter deliveries and COVID-19 relief efforts from the City of Framingham and the MetroWest Health Foundation. In July, we also received 100 new face masks from COVID Shield Boston as well as many generous donations from our Emergency Response Wish List on Amazon. We are still reaching out to new companies and organizations for mask donations and gratefully accepting donations to our Emergency Fund.

We will share details about our September re-opening plans on our website, social media, and e-newsletter in late August and early September.

August Closure and July Updates

We will take a short break from shelter deliveries during the month of August. Please be on the lookout for our COVID-19 Summer Report this month. If you urgently need to get in touch with Circle of Hope while we are closed, please email Carolyn at carolyn@circleofhopeonline.org. In the next few weeks, keep an eye on your inbox, social media, and our website for important updates about our re-opening plans. We're excited to share our plans for the fall!

For more updates, stories, and photos from July, please click here.

COVID-19 Updates - June 2020

Click here for the latest updates on Circle of Hope’s COVID-19 relief efforts.

Circle of Hope COVID-19 Response Report

At Circle of Hope, we have pivoted to supply homeless families and individuals with the soap, PPE, hygiene supplies, and essential new clothing they need to stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 crisis. As we continue physically distancing, we want to keep you up to date on our COVID-19 relief efforts. To read our full report of Circle of Hope's COVID-19 response so far, please click on the button below. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email!

COVID-19 Updates from COH - May 2020

Circle of Hope staff and volunteers have continued contactless emergency deliveries of toiletries, hand soap, masks, and other essentials to our partner shelters. Click here for more information and other updates from Circle of Hope.

COVID-19 Update

Closure Extended

Given the ongoing crisis, Circle of Hope is not able to accept donations of gently used clothing at this time. We will continue monitoring the situation and updating you via email, social media, and our website.

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From the Executive Director

Dear friends,

Eleven years ago, I couldn’t foresee building Circle of Hope on a public health foundation would be so impactful. Now, we pivot, creating novel ways to safely distance while intimately caring for homeless infants, children, and adults. Turns out, we’ve already been agility training for COVID-19 with our Emergency Response Program. We mobilize our action team offering protection in a time of unprecedented crisis. Our donors, supporters, and volunteers are compassionate, generous, and resilient.

Ron Suskind's “A Hope in the Unseen” is not only a favorite inspiration on my book shelf. It’s what we hold for our most vulnerable neighbors who need and deserve our care, now, more than ever.

Thank you for being the light and hope.

With profound gratitude and hope,

Barbara

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Now More Than Ever

Now more than ever, homeless individuals need your help. With higher rates of chronic health conditions like heart disease and diabetes, the people we serve are higher risk for coronavirus. They need clean clothing, bedding, toiletries, shoes, and hand soap to stay healthy and safe during this crisis. Thousands of people will continue to rely on Circle of Hope for these vital donations even after the crisis has passed.

Please help us bring health and hope to homeless children, women, and men by purchasing a "ticket" to our "Virtual HOPE Blooms." Amplify your impact by making an additional donation to our Fund-A-Need. To learn more and donate, click the link below.

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From the Operations Manager

To all the Circle of Hope volunteers, drivers and donors-

I hope you and your families are healthy and staying safe. I miss you all! I miss connecting each week. I miss the conversations, the smiles and the laughter that comes through the door each day at Circle of Hope.

During the past few weeks, I have had so much time to reflect and think about how lucky I am to spend each day with you. I am so grateful for your dedication, energy, positivity and empathy. It is your enthusiasm and can-do attitude that make each week a success at Circle of Hope. Thank you!

And, I have so much hope for the day that we welcome you back. We are working hard on our end with plans to move forward so we can get back to helping those individuals and families that need us most. We can assure you that your health and safety, along with those we serve, are our top priority.

Please feel free to reach out and continue to connect and check in on one another. This is one of the many things I love about Circle of Hope. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Be well,

Jody

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Soap and Hope

Giving soap during a pandemic does much more than wash hands. New socks and underwear protect health and dignity like never before. A raincoat is a shield against a day outdoors waiting for a shelter bed. Distancing is not an option for families in shelters. As we stay apart in our homes, we’re protecting countless people, among them the vulnerable homeless infants, children, and adults seeking safety in shelters.

While COH’s door is closed, our staff and volunteers are at work. Two homeless newborns who left the hospital as COVID-19 spread are now sleeping in new porta-cribs and have fully stocked Welcome Baby Bags we delivered to the shelter. Since closing, we brought 400 pump soaps, 800 toiletries, and 300 new pairs of underwear and socks to homeless adults in shelters, at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program, and families in shelter. From our stocked shelves we gave 100 coats, 200 pairs of pants, and 300 shirts to homeless adults, 200 toiletry items to the Boston Police Department, and enough new socks, underwear, clothing, and coats for 50 children staying in family shelters.

We come together differently now to bring hope and health. Our team works to strategically deploy vital supplies, while protecting ourselves, our families, and the people we serve.

Thank you for helping us protect and preserve health, hope, and dignity during this crisis.

Stay Home. Stay Healthy. Share HOPE.

Circle of Hope is committed to the health and well-being of homeless individuals. We are also committed to you, our supporters. Given the uncertainties of the COVID-19 virus, we have decided to cancel our HOPE Blooms event on May 2nd.

HOPE Blooms is our single largest fundraiser. Last year we provided clothing and necessities to 8,000 homeless individuals and families. To ensure Circle of Hope is able to continue to meet the needs of those we serve, during this crisis and throughout the year, we ask that you please support our "Virtual HOPE Blooms" through the purchase of a "ticket."

Thank you.