Special Summer Fun for FamilyAid’s Youngest Guests

Thanks to generous FamilyAid donors, children in our care are having some much-needed fun this summer.

With most of the children living in our emergency shelters having arrived during the pandemic, they have been largely disconnected from their home neighborhoods, schools and after school activities.

Almost all have come from overcrowded and stressful environments or have been living in cars and sleeping in emergency rooms. FamilyAid is offsetting this trauma by providing onsite safe enrichment activities.

Ice cream trucks are being deployed to our group shelter sites, providing free ice cream and smiles to several hundred children each week.

Music therapy and education students from The Berklee College of Music are also providing  private, socially distanced outdoor concerts at several shelters throughout the remainder of the summer. Solo artists and groups will perform live while also guiding children in musical games, storybook songs, and percussion play-along.  Parents and children will enjoy healthy snacks and drinks at the events.

These trauma-reducing activities are the foundation of the agency’s Children First initiative, which provides children with critical connections, enrichment activities and some hope and joy as their parents work with FamilyAid case workers to address the root causes of their homelessness, find stable housing, job training and employment.

During this inaugural year, the initiative has also included parent education programs, cosponsored with our partner Horizons for Homeless Children, referrals to behavioral health specialists, early reader programs, and additional virtual technologies to support at-home learning

We believe that by prioritizing both children’s and parent’s needs, we can break the generational cycle of homelessness that so many families face, and help families build better futures more quickly.

For more information on the services FamilyAid provides, visit our website.