Community Rallies Around Fellowship Housing Families this Christmas Season

Tuesday, December 20, 2011  //  0 Comments  //  News

This holiday season, numerous families, individuals, and groups have come together to support families in Fellowship Housing; a transitional housing program for homeless and at-risk single mothers and their kids.

It all kicked off with Thanksgiving–a local community group, Food for Friends, brought frozen turkeys with all the fixings and side dishes to be made to Fellowship Housing moms.  This empowers them to have holiday traditions with their children by cooking their own Thanksgiving meal.  Along with Thanksgiving dinner, a local Girl Scout Troop organized food baskets for each family to assist with holiday dinners and a group of high school students from Willow Creek Community Church made cookie baskets for the families.  The women also worked one-on-one with volunteers from Accenture on workforce readiness training which included career building and job seeking skills. This initiative reflects Accenture’s Skills to Succeed initiative, which will equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills they need to get a job or start a business.

The season of giving continues as Hoffman Estates Community Bank is providing each child in Fellowship Housing a coat; local families and small groups of friends are purchasing Christmas gifts for each mom and her children.  This allows each family to focus on building a savings account and paying off debt even during a time where gifts and goodies seem expected.  Sweet Whimsy, a Long Grove pastry shop is hosting a cookie decorating station at the Family Christmas Party for Fellowship Housing families. The Women in Leadership Development group from Sears Holdings Corporation will provide our families with emergency car kits and winter boots to help Fellowship Housing families gear up for snowy days ahead.  Rue 62 Salon in Hoffman Estates is also donating haircuts and donations to Fellowship Housing moms.  Owner, Jenna Speight is excited about this venture, “This is an opportunity to provide women in need with a way to feel better about themselves,” she says. “Every woman, no matter what their situation understands how the simplicity of little pampering can make their outlook a little brighter.  Everyone needs to figure out how they can help people in need.  This is what I can do.”