HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN INC
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Mission Statement
Horizons for Homeless Children improves the lives of young homeless children in Massachusetts and helps their families to succeed by providing high quality early education, opportunities for play, and comprehensive family support services. To support our mission, we also advocate on behalf of young children, train educators and human services providers, and provide research on the impact of early education on homeless children.
About This Cause
Horizons for Homeless Children (Horizons) improves the lives of young homeless children in Massachusetts and helps their families to succeed by providing high quality early education, opportunities for play, and comprehensive family support services. Horizons is a leader in Massachusetts and the nation in providing care for young children whose lives have been impacted by the trauma of homelessness. Horizons’ models of care are based on proven strategies that have long-term impact. With thousands of young children experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts each year, the need is great. Horizons addresses this need through the following key programs: Playspace Program To make healthy play possible for young children living in family shelters, Horizons collaborates with shelter residents and staff to build and maintain age-appropriate, safe and fun spaces that come equipped with books, building blocks, art supplies and more – the all-important tools to challenge children physically and creatively and allow them to have a place to play, use their imaginations, and just be kids. These spaces would not exist otherwise, and they make it possible for young homeless children to engage in this critical type of learning activity. Without them, these children would have no place to play, and few toys if any with which to play. Various activity areas are provided to address the age and interest levels of all the children, including dramatic play, art, manipulatives, literacy, and infant mobility. More than 1,000 children a year take advantage of the Playspaces in more than 60 family shelters across the state. The Playspace Program recruits and trains more than 500 volunteer "Playspace Activity Leaders" (PALs) to engage the children in fun, educational play that is developmentally necessary for all young children. Each volunteer attends an initial training session and makes a commitment to work for 2 hours per week for at least six months to ensure stability in the children’s lives. For children living in a shelter, the visits from PALs may be the only opportunity a child has to play, have a story read to him or her, use his or her imagination to create a work of art, or just have fun. These interactions are critical to fostering a healthy environment from which a child can benefit. Early Education Program More than just a childcare or pre-school program, Horizons’ early education program, the Edgerley Family Horizons Center, focus on the unique needs of homeless children and families. It takes a proactive and comprehensive approach to the problems confronting homeless children and their families, providing the children with the type of early care and education most likely to help them enter school with the skills that they need to be successful both socially and academically, and connecting their families with the supports and resources necessary to become self-sufficient, thereby offering them and their children a better chance at sustained success. The center in Boston serves 225 young children (aged 2 months to six years old) and their families each day and upwards of 300 over the course of a year. The center uses an integrated approach to teaching based on a curriculum that focuses on the developmental needs of homeless children. Horizons’ dedicated teachers are highly qualified and have undergone specialized training to help them identify any developmental delays and develop a plan of action to address these problems. Classes maintain a low child-to-teacher ratio, allowing for dedicated attention to each child, which can immediately begin to help a child “catch up” developmentally with his or her housed peers. Family Partnership Program Through our two-generation model and utilizing the Mobility Mentoring approach, we work with the parents of the children enrolled in the center to help them achieve their goals and successfully support their families and retain permanent housing. Serving as mentors and coaches, Horizons' Family Advocates provide support and help the parents to access education, training, and social services to help them achieve their goals. Family Partnerships staff also provide workshops to help parents gain parenting and life skills, such as financial management.