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Greetings!
As we enter a new year, this newsletter highlights the many ways our staff, partners, and programs came together to support families and create meaningful moments of joy to close out 2025. You’ll hear directly from our Family Services team and the families they serve in a new video that showcases how the team works together to support HFH residents. We’re also celebrating a season filled with connection—from Halloween and Thanksgiving activities to Holiday gatherings made possible by our generous partners—reflecting the care, collaboration, and community that define our work every day.
| | Take a Look Inside Family Services | | | | In our new video highlighting the Family Services department, hear directly from the Family Services team, which includes Case Managers, Client Care Coordinators, and Housing Specialists. They work together to create individualized plans, connect families to resources, and support their transition to permanent housing, helping them thrive long after leaving our shelters. | | For an additional look inside the Family Services department, read the Q&A with Keena Richards, Director of Family Services at Saratoga Family Residence. | | A Season of Holiday Cheer | | HFH Family Residences marked the holiday season with joyful, community-centered gatherings across sites. Allie’s Place hosted a community toy drive, a holiday party with Rap4Bronx, and hands-on cookie decorating with Allie's Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment. Clinton welcomed the MLB NYC Flagship Store’s holiday squad for gift giving and family photos. Prospect celebrated with a Grinch-themed photo event with cocoa, cookies, and activities like bingo, ornament decorating, and a movie night. Saratoga transformed for the season with a traditional German Christmas Market hosted by Lufthansa’s Help Alliance Americas and a winter wonderland for families, featuring waffles, crafts, cocoa, and s’mores. Williamsbridge rounded out the holidays with a PJs & Pancakes gathering, photos with Santa, December birthday recognition, and a holiday movie marathon. | | Thanks to our amazing partners, over 1,500 gifts were donated with every child in HFH shelters receiving holiday gifts and parents and children alike receiving warm coats for the winter months. We are very grateful to ADP NYC, Alston & Bird, Area 53, Citibank, Community District 8, Ferox Ninja Park, Girl Scouts Staten Island, Good+ Foundation, Grace Church School, Hollis Lions Club, JFK Terminal 7, Knock Knock Give A Sock, K&L Gates, Lufthansa’s help alliance Americas, Merl Grove High School Past Students’ Association, MLB Store NYC, Nasya Batian/Cambria School of Excellence, New York Cares, Off Broadway Theater, Old Navy, Projects with Care, Rap4Bronx, Rockaplay Social Club, St. Paul Episcopal Church, Stifel Financial, Stogie on the Rocks, The New York Times, Trade Coffee Co., and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Phi Zeta Zeta Chapter for helping ensure families had what they needed this holiday season while kids experienced the joy of opening a gift. | | |
The celebrations expanded beyond the traditional holidays into Hispanic Heritage month. At Williamsbridge, families celebrated with hands-on activities including decorating Día de los Muertos–inspired calaveras, cooking traditional foods like arepas, tacos, and empanadas, and learning tango and bachata through dance classes.
Students have been exploring creativity and curiosity, from building and coding LEGO robots with Rise for Robotics volunteers in Saratoga Afterschool to traveling the world through Saratoga Early Ed’s classroom passport program. During a recent “visit” to Finland, young learners made flags, baked cinnamon buns, and discovered Finnish traditions, climate, and the magic of the Northern Lights.
At Allie’s Place Afterschool, students are exploring photography with Kids with Cameras NYC—learning DSLR basics and snapping photos around the classroom—while also practicing focus, balance, and teamwork through weekly yoga sessions with Sweet Water Dance & Yoga.
| | Creative Thanksgiving Gatherings across HFH | | Thanksgiving was celebrated with creative, gratitude-filled activities that brought families together across Afterschool and Early Ed programs. Children and parents cooked together during hands-on activities, shared what they were thankful for, and enjoyed festive crafts like turkey dot art and build-your-own sticker turkeys. The season also featured Thanksgiving meals, dance parties, games, November birthday shoutouts, and decorated community spaces. | | Spooky Season at HFH Family Residences | | HFH Family Residences celebrated Halloween with a month of festive, family-centered activities. Children painted and decorated pumpkins, attended seasonal movie nights featuring classics like Hocus Pocus and Coco, and showed off costumes at afterschool parties and building-wide celebrations. Highlights included a community outing to the NY Botanical Garden’s Nightmare Before Christmas light show, hands-on science experiments creating Jack-o’-lantern soda floats, sensory pumpkin explorations for young learners, trick-or-treating throughout residence buildings, and a Halloween magic show—bringing families together through music, treats, creativity, and shared moments of joy and learning. | |
HFH Partnerships Manager Tierra Gunther recently joined Melva LaJoy Legrand, founder and CEO of LaJoy Creative, on Good Day Street Talk on Fox 5 New York to talk about HFH Family Residences and the wraparound services provided for families experiencing homelessness. LaJoy and her talented team also curated a wonderful evening of wellness and community for the moms at Clinton, who enjoyed a catered meal, a movement class, and creating vision boards while their kids participated in reading, games, and activities.
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Allie's Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment welcomed back photographer Brendan Miller for another Food Photography Seminar, where students explored how composition, lighting, and styling can transform a dish. Through hands-on practice and real-time feedback, Brendan showed how culinary skills can open doors to creative career paths beyond the kitchen.
| | | Congratulations to our December 2025 Staff Spotlight | | | |
Carl Richards, Director of Security, Saratoga
“Carl has taken on the role well. He is dedicated. Anything you need him to do, he is willing to do—you couldn’t ask for a better director.” – David Morris, Administrator at Saratoga Family Residence
Read the full spotlight HERE.
| | Camelot Counseling Services: Supporting Stability and Recovery | | Over the past year, Camelot Counseling Services partnered closely with HFH to support families living in HFH family residences. Through this collaboration, Camelot completed 234 screenings and 213 comprehensive assessments, helping residents quickly identify needs and connect to appropriate care. Services included more than 2,400 group therapy sessions, over 4,300 individual counseling sessions, and 458 psychiatric assessments, alongside peer support, medical assessments, and assistance with employment and housing resources. Together, these efforts reduced barriers to mental health, substance use, and medical care while ensuring families receive ongoing support. | | Want to learn more about how you can get involved? Email GetInvolved@HFHnyc.org for information on volunteering, hosting toy drives, donations, and more. | | | | |
