With boldness, love, a deep sense of service and accomplishment, Dawn and I thank you all for being part of our year of radical interdependency, clarity, organizational progress, and transformative change.

We began with what we knew -

We hold a most unique place in Ocean County and throughout our region, as a recognized and respected transitional living program structured around safety, stability, and sustainability for our young people facing homelessness, isolation, or crisis.

We are blessed with a committed, talented, visionary Leadership Team that created a clear path forward for our SHORE House programs, residents and the young people of our communities.

We set our sights on establishing our Program and organization as both an anchor and a resource for our community, delivering Trauma-Responsive, Healing-Centered care.

We became focused and intentional in our efforts to connect and collaborate with our peers and fellow nonprofits, and create mindfulness and appreciation around self-care and resilience.

We made it personal - in our own stories, in the stories of our residents and program participants, in our conversations and relationships. We extended ourselves in both personal and professional ways, in an honest exchange of ideas and actions in relentless engagement with the goal of transforming lives and futures.

2026 is right around the corner. We invite you to join us, celebrate us, advocate with and for us, and support us as we manifest gratitude for what we have accomplished and hope for what is yet to come.

Happy Holidays to all, best wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year, and please stop in any time. Make this your year to connect with us.

In gratitude,

Donna & Dawn

In 2025, our Youth Navigator, Jay Trifiro, and Program Director, Jenny Allen, created a volunteer youth partnership with Sleep In Heavenly Peace.

Our Youth Task Force built beds for other children in need, minor children so they can stay in their homes with their families. Our YTF delivered them and put them together.

Through this effort. our residents built and delivered 50 beds, and gave 550 hours of volunteer time to community service.

In doing so, our SHORE House residents, who by entering our transitional living program ended their homeless experience, and in their community engagement with Sleep in Heavenly Peace - NJ, Morris Co, prevent other children from entering the foster care system, from becoming displaced, and from being separated from their siblings.

This is the beauty of synergy, of paying it forward, of recognizing the value of service. For us and for our residents, this is truly a transformational, full-circle moment.

Our CFO, Dawn Samaritano, and Residential Counselor, Kenya Warren, took the House to the Vogel Theatre in Red Bank for a holiday Gospel Choir presentation. Many thanks to Samantha Giustiniani, Vice President, Education & Outreach for the Count Basie Center for the Arts!

What an amazing week in Washington DC at The Runaway and Homeless Youth Grantee Training Conference in early December - bringing together FYSB RHY Grantees from all across the country for several days of meaningful dialogue, learning, networking and collaboration! A special thank you to my fellow team members, Jenny Allen and Breonna Kesto for representing Ocean's Harbor House with the knowledge and compassion that they exhibit everyday, and for making the trip extra memorable with the laughs and good times. Along with the collaboration of all of these dedicated nonprofit grantees, the conference centered on shared commitment, compassion, and the power of collective impact.

Together, these kind and empathetic leaders explored new strategies, strengthened partnerships, and reaffirmed the values that guide their work—unity, understanding, and hope. Surrounded by people devoted to uplifting vulnerable youth, the experience served as a reminder that when caring professionals come together with purpose, they create brighter possibilities for young people to grow, achieve, and believe in their futures. Truly inspirational work that is being done by so many dedicated professionals in the RHY field! - CFO Dawn Samaritano

Our partnership with the Greater Toms River Chamber of Commerce is truly a platform for sharing our Mission, Vision, and Values. The Chamber provides Ocean's Harbor House the unique venues and opportunities to share information, ideas, and resources that lift all our nonprofit colleagues. From the annual Awards Dinner, to the Women in Leadership group, to the Nonprofit Committee that Dawn and I are proud to Co-Chair, we are grateful for the opportunities and support given to our nonprofit community. - COO Donna Carlson

We are grateful and so proud to be a Grunin Foundation partner. The support, resources, and collaborative collective of opportunities that the Foundation makes possible are instrumental to the success of our vital mission and to the missions of our combined communities. Thank you Jeremy, Heather, Vicki, Kelly, and Don for the gifts of your time, talents and treasure!

Dawn and I thank The Citta Foundation’s for 4 decades of generous support and generational love for our programs and our young people.

Our connection to The Citta Foundation honors the history and legacy of Regina Citta and the Citta Family, and their instrumental role in securing our future and the success of our mission.

Thank you Kathy Durante and The OceanFirst Foundation for our General Operating Support Grant, for the residents and programs of our SHORE House.

It takes a village to fulfill our mission of providing housing, supportive living programs, and advocacy for teens and young adults who are homeless, facing imminent homelessness, or in crisis. #LocalLoveLastingImpact

Thank you Monmouth Ocean Regional REALTORS for such a wonderful lunch, and for the very generous gift cards on your tree! We are so grateful for your community support of our mission and cause !!

#grateful #ittakesavillage

Chef Umberto Turelli and Andrea Tarr presented OHH with a $1,000 donation raised through their "Oh What a Night" fundraiser at the Park Pavilion at The Sawmill, Seaside Park. We are so grateful for their support, and we thank Ron Mueller and his wonderful staff at The Sawmill for all the love!

Our residents joined The Toms River Housing and Homeless Coalition in honoring and paying respect to those who lived and lost their lives unsheltered in 2025.

Our program guides our young people to recognize their role in making a difference, and working to make the world a better place.

Our residents attended the first annual Kiwanis Hope and Healing Youth Conference at Georgian Court University, bringing their voices and shared experience to the table with regional transitional living programs and their peers.

Jenny and Jay are focused on bringing our residents and program participants to the table, helping them to realize they have a voice, and the right to be in every room, and to share their hopes for a future that is full of possibilities.

Our residents attend events that celebrate and elevate women and their voices and contributions, such as The Soroptimist's Celebration Dinner. Their ability to connect and network is enhanced by the mentorship they discover in their community.

If you drive down Conifer Street, be sure to check out the beautiful job done by Arlo, Marco and Dyson. These remarkable young men from our Toms River Regional School District braved bitter cold and wind to bring lights to our SHORE House. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Mary Teresa, Jenny, and Jen from Hackensack Meridian.

Maria Lauria from WM Lauria Contracting

Mary T and Dion from Central Ocean Rotary

Dave from First Financial!

Jill Rand and George Hanna, Central Ocean Rotary

New bike delivery! Thank you AKA Dare To Love!

Club Pilates of Toms River , Feast of Seven Fishes with Chef Umberto and Andrea Tarr!

Our CFO, Dawn Samaritano, Administrator Mary Teresa Bijeau, and COO Donna Carlson were guests at the employee Christmas Luncheon held at Veolia Water New Jersey's office in Toms River. Not only did our friends at Veolia deliver amazing Christmas presents for our SHORE House residents, but they also presents Ocean's Harbor House with a donation of $1,000. Thank you to John Passuth, and our Veolia neighbors!

We close out this newsletter with sincerest gratitude to our extended community and donors, our friends and supporters, our collaborators and partners. Here's to a Healthy, Happy, and Hopeful New Year to each of us. We extend to you our heartfelt wishes for Peace, Joy, and Abundance.

Please stop in and say hello. We welcome all, and look forward to seeing you in 2026.

With love,



Donna & Dawn