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Horizons for Homeless Children (formerly The Horizons Initiative), a Massachusetts based non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless children and their families, is honored to announce a recent grant award of $15,000 from The Boston Foundation. The funds will be designated to the agency’s policy and advocacy initiatives, including mobilizing HHC’s volunteer corps and clients to advocate on behalf of homeless families.
Children under the age of 5 are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Right now there are over 1,300 families in shelter in Massachusetts. Within these families, there are over 1,300 children under the age of five. Nationally, approximately 500,000 children aged 0-5 years old will experience homelessness this year. Current research shows that compared with low-income housed children, homeless children experience more health problems, developmental delays, increased anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and lower educational achievement.
The legislative and regulatory policies and sufficient networks of integrated mainstream and targeted services needed to help homeless families are not yet in place to help children and families already experiencing homelessness and prevent others from becoming homeless. Work must be done at the policy level and with a wider audience to end the crisis of child and family homelessness in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
With the generous assistance of The Boston Foundation, Horizons for Homeless Children intends to be a leader in the discussion and the debate over policies and resources for homeless children and families. Through mobilizing and engaging the public in Massachusetts, advocating for policy changes and resource improvements with local, state, and federal policymakers, and participating in the debate for a comprehensive, national network of resources to address family homelessness, the organization expects to initiate improvements that will greatly benefit homeless children and families in Massachusetts and nationally.
"The Boston Foundation has a deep commitment to providing access to the education and services that ought to be a birthright for every child," said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. "Investment in healthy children is a fundamental building block for a sustainable community and affects the ability of children to become productive adults. We are delighted to work with Horizons for Homeless Children to make this happen."
Horizons for Homeless Children and The Boston Foundation have a mutual commitment to enable the communities they serve to realize their full potential; for Horizons for Homeless Children, that means the provision of programs and services to homeless children and families in the hope that they will eventually achieve self-sufficiency.
“The problem of homeless children is almost invisible to our day-to-day lives, and these great kids are in danger of falling through the cracks of our society,” said Sue Heilman, Executive Director of Horizons for Homeless Children. “Horizons for Homeless Children’s Playspaces and Community Children’s Centers offer safe havens for homeless children to play and develop, while giving their parents a chance to work, seek employment or otherwise make life changes that eventually will help them live on their own. The grant made available to us from The Boston Foundation will play a significant role in bringing learning and growth opportunities to greater numbers of homeless children.”
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The Boston Foundation, one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations, has an endowment of almost $650 million, made grants of $48 million to nonprofit organizations, and received gifts of $38 million last year. The Boston Foundation is made up of 750 separate charitable funds, which have been established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Boston Foundation also serves as a civic leader, convener, and sponsor of special initiatives designed to build community. For more information about the Boston Foundation and its grant making, visit www.tbf.org, or call 617-338-1700.
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