We've known for some time that a lack of transitional and emergency housing is a large stumbling block for many youth in our program and our community. Now it's time to do something about it.

Here is a note from our Executive Director and Founder, Jerri Howe, talking about how we're going to do that, and how you can help.

Greetings from the Matthews House,

Many of us are aware that we have youth in our community living in unsafe places. They have little or no family support. This tragedy was highlighted just last week when we were called to provide a safe place for an 18 year old girl who finally got the courage to leave an abusive situation with her stepfather. This young lady is too old for foster care and the abuse was not considered domestic violence. She has a 2 year old daughter so the only solution was for the 18 year old to go to a shelter and her daughter be placed in foster care. So not to bring more trauma to the situation by separating mom and child, we were able to provide temporary shelter through a host home until other arrangements were made.

Because we have seen an increase in homeless youth and youth lacking caring adults, we have decided to reach out to the community to build our Host Home program. We have engaged a part time director who has years of experience in community based alternative housing options for youth. We will be holding two information sessions. If you have an interest or know of someone who might, please plan to attend or pass along this information to others. As we have experienced in the past, when awareness for unmet needs is raised in our community caring individuals always step forward to help. Thank you for your consideration of attending or passing along information about these information sessions.

Joy to your day,

Jerri

A Matthews House Host Home provides transitional and emergency housing for youth. Stays may range from one week to 6 months.  As a Matthews House Host Parent, you will be trained and supported to take a young adult into your home and help prepare them for transition on their own.

Please join us for an Open House to learn more about becoming a Host Family.
Wednesday, February 3, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
or
Thursday, February 4, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Please RSVP today: Gkoenig@thematthewshouse.org
or call Gwen at #970.217.7273 or sign up here.

I was standing in our basement the other day handing a box of food to a parole officer who was taking the food to one of the families she works with. Now, you might expect that I was thinking about how horrible it is that we have families in our community who worry about where their next meal is coming from, and I was, but the overwhelming feeling I was experiencing was, “I love Christmas!”

We have great needs in our community all year long and there are amazing gifts of generosity that happen every day.

However, at Christmas we get to see the generous spirit that I believe inhabits every one of us humans overflow. This season shows me what is possible, what we as individuals and particularly as a community are capable of. 

I am feeling deep gratitude to all those people who are inspiring me and encouraging us this Christmas at the Matthews House. Here are a few…

• Colorado Carriage and Wagon gave 15 of our girls an evening carriage ride, probably not an experience they would ever have had.
• Whole Foods Market, through the generosity of thousands of their customers donated $4,000 of food to the Matthews House, so much that we have been able to not only meet the needs of our youth, but share with other agencies and families we are connected to.
• The Shepherd of the Hills Quilting Group delivered 7 beautiful handmade few full-size quilts that we’ve passed on to youth in our program. They LOVE them!
• A book club that made food and hung out with the youth at our Christmas Party.
• Several volunteers who decided we needed holiday decorations in every room and then handmade and hung them.
• Crossroads Church who held a toy drive and provided toys for several of our youth who have little ones of their own.
• Dozens of people who provided gift cards so our youth could all receive a Christmas present, and
• Burn Longboards, a local company who put on an entire evening event to benefit the Matthews House.

This just scratches the surface of all the people and things we are thankful for this Christmas season. Yes, there are always more needs, more heartbreaking stories, but there are also incredible stories of hope and generosity – and that is what this season is about.

We are so encouraged by the compassion and support of our community.

THANK YOU ALL!!!

Periodically, groups from the community come alongside the Matthews House to plan and put on events for our youth. These are great, fun activities for our youth with the added invaluable benefit that they are done on a completely volunteer basis by people who share this community with our youth. No ulterior motives, no one getting paid, these are people who genuinely care about our community and our youth. This unconditional compassion has a huge impact on our youth. For them to recognize that there are people in their community who want to invest time in them not because there’s a monetary incentive, but because there’s a true belief in the value and potential of each individual regardless of past events or circumstances. This is incredibly powerful for many of our youth who have seldom had anyone really believe in them.

This summer, a group from Emmaus Road Church came to the Matthews House to hang out with kids and provide a BBQ meal. This group got to know some of our youth through conversation and some games of bocce ball.

We’d like to thank Andy & Amy Lucas, Marie Evans, Ken Snyder and Wendy Thompson from Emmaus Road for their time and compassion and of course the food they brought to grill out

Thanks also to the following Matthews House volunteers for adding a collection of sides and dessert to provide quite a nice spread of food for the afternoon!

Doreen Miller, Tina Morris, Linda Maher, Gail Follett, Cathy Rotman, Christine Christman, Kelly Mapes, Denise Thompson, Vickie Mitchell, Courtney Craig and Denise Birdsall

With sadness we are saying goodbye to Kristin Higgins, Transition Facilitator as she moves on to the next phase of her life. Kristin has been an amazing asset to the Matthews House over the past 2 and a half years, both for her hard work and her incredible compassion and love for the “kids” in our program. Change is difficult but many times empowering as our youth so aptly teach us every day. We will certainly miss you Kristin. We wish you and Dave the very best!

Here’s what Kristin would like to tell you:

After 2 ½ amazing years at the Matthews House, the time has come for me to move on. At the end of July, I will be moving with my husband, David, to Denver, so that he can fulfill his dream of attending medical school. While we are excited for adventures that lay before us, we are sad to leave Fort Collins and the community we have become so connected with.

My time at the Matthews House has contributed so much to the person I am today. I will always be thankful for the opportunity I have had to walk alongside young people who missed out on the love, support and protection of a family and share life with them. I challenged youth to take risks and allow me to be a part of their lives and their hearts and in turn, I was challenged to love in a way that was indiscriminate and without condition. It was amazing to see the lasting and profound effects of simple words such as “I care about you” or “I believe in you.” I watched compassion bridge impossible canyons and lead to incredible relationships built on trust and hope. Thank you to every one of you who demonstrated in a very real and very beautiful way what community is supposed to look like when you wrapped your arms and hearts around the Matthews House youth and staff. You are changing lives.

I will always cherish my time here and will miss the Matthews House staff, board members, volunteers and youth dearly. Farewell for now,

Kristin

This is our big, fun event of the year and we hope to see you there!

Listen to our Cutivate Hope Radio Invitation here.

On Thursday, May 7th, we will hold the 2nd Annual Cultivate Hope Benefit.

There will be a silent auction of hand-created flower pots, garden art and garden goodies, along with music, food and festivities, all to benefit the Matthews House.

This enjoyable evening features

• bluegrass music by Finders and Youngberg,

• a silent auction of handcreated flower pots and garden art by local artists, including Barbara Moore, Kari Lennartson, Lisa Cameron, Bryan Collins and many more,

• as well as a chance to win fabulous prizes, including a Grand Junction Wine Getaway.

This celebration of Spring parallels the growth we see in the lives of youth in the Matthews House program as they take control of their lives and begin to pursue exciting pathways to a future of hope.

The event begins at 6:30pm next Thursday, May 7th, at the Hilton Garden Inn (2821 E Harmony) and tickets are only $25.

More information and tickets are available here or at 970-472-4293.

This year’s event is underwritten by Realities for Children, and presented by Hilton Garden Inn and Capital West National Bank with additional support from the Tenfold Collective and Bath Garden Center.

The week from April 19 to 25th is dedicated to “Celebrating People in Action” – honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities.

Here at the Matthews House we rely heavily on the dedication, commitment and passion of volunteers. Our volunteers offer significant support to disadvantaged youth both by working behind the scenes (i.e. admin work, cleaning, fundraising) and directly with youth (i.e. one-on-one mentoring, providing rides, leading groups). They are the heart and soul of the Matthews House and we absolutely could not give the quality care and support that we give without our volunteers.

Since it is National Volunteer Week, this seems like a particularly fitting time to take the opportunity to recognize and thank some of our most committed volunteers.

In 2008, we had over 110 active volunteers, who gave over 4200 hours of their time and energy to insure that youth who were once without hope were given the tools, skills and support they needed to learn to dream and to create new paths for their lives! We’d like to especially recognize seven volunteers who each gave over 100 hours in 2008:

Over 100 Volunteer hours:

Dave Brown
Elly Wiebe
Matt Martin
Bob Addleman

Over 200 Volunteer hours:

Cliff Bergren
Cathy Rotman

Way over 200 Volunteer hours:

Jerri Howe

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS – YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

Want to learn more about making a difference through mentoring?

Join the Larimer County Mentoring Coalition this Thursday, April 23rd from 4 – 6pm at Reader’s Cove to explore the opportunities for mentoring in Larimer County

For more information contact
Kathleen Vasa
E-mail:  voarsvp@frii.com
970.472.9630

You may never have given much thought to how the Juvenile Justice System in Larimer County works, but this part of our judicial system affects many youth and their families in our community and it can sometimes seem a little complicated.

I’ll be honest, I never thought too much about the system, until I started working at the Matthews House. Then I started seeing how the system played a role in the lives of some of our youth, their families, their extended families and their friends. I started meeting individual people -  youth who’ve tangled with the system and the people in their lives helping them rebuild and change direction. I’ve met parole officers who care deeply about the youth they work with, and I’ve met youth who are trying to make good, but starting 20 steps behind because they are first having to dig themselves out of a deep hole dug by generational poverty and poor role modeling. It’s been interesting learning more about how we as a community and as individuals address the issues of justice as they pertain to youth.

Whether you’ve never thought much about it or you’ve been impacted by the system directly, you’re invited to come learn more.

On Monday, April 13th you have the chance to hear from and engage in discussion with two experts: Randall Lococo, a Fort Collins attorney who has had extensive experience defending juveniles in the Larimer County Juvenile Justice system and Robert Percifield, Deputy District Attorney, Juvenile Division, 8th Judicial District.

When: Monday, April 13th from 7 – 9pm
Where: Coloradoan Community Meeting Room, 1500 Riverside Ave, Fort Collins

This opportunity to learn more about juvenile justice in our community is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Larimer County.

You may be familiar with Realities for Children, if not you’ll want to be – trust me.

Realities for Children is a cause marketing and promotional company that provides a unique opportunity for local businesses to gain marketing benefits, including special marketing rates, greater visibility, referral networking, and positive name association, while meeting the needs of abused and neglected children in Larimer County. By bringing together a large number of business members they are able to offer member-businesses an amazing return on investment while making a huge impact on our community by providing funding for emergency needs, education, sponsorship support and special activities for at-risk children and youth.

So why am I talking about Realities for Children on the Matthews House blog? Well, I realized you may not know that The Matthews House is a Realities for Children affiliate agency and I also realized that even if you do know that, you might not know what it means. I can tell you that it means a lot to our youth, directly and indirectly.

As an affiliate agency we are able to apply for emergency funding when there are no resources available elsewhere to meet a need. The Realities for Children Emergency Fund creates a safety net for children and youth who would otherwise fall through the cracks. This partnership with Realities has allowed immediate needs such as emergency shelter to be met for our youth.

Realities also meets the needs of our youth indirectly through event sponsorship. By signing on as the Presenting Sponsor for our upcoming Cultivate Hope fundraiser, Realities for Children is underwriting the cost of putting on the event so that all the money that comes in can go directly to helping the youth the Matthews House exists to serve. That means that when you buy a ticket to Cultivate Hope, all $25 is going to help youth develop the support network and skills they need to be successful and self-sufficient. And when you bid and win a beautiful piece of garden art at the event, you can know that the money doesn’t get absorbed into the cost of food or printing but goes directly to our program and youth in need.

If you are a business owner or an employee of a community-minded business, please look into Realities for Children to see how they can help you to leverage your marketing dollars while helping Larimer County’s children.

Please join us for Cultivate Hope, coming up on May 7th at 6:30pm. Tickets and Info available on our website.

This slideshow of postcards made by alumni of the foster care system showed up in my mailbox recently and I feel it needs to be shared. These simple postcards are able to convey the complex feelings and experiences of many youth in foster care and to shed light on what it might be like to grow up in foster care for those who haven’t been there and find it difficult to imagine.

Like I said, I thought it needed to be shared. Please take a minute to check it out, I think you’ll be glad you did.

This national community art project is an undertaking of Foster Care Alumni of America and is intended to build (the foster care alumni) community at the same time we educate foster care professionals and providers, and the general public, about our culture.

As the alumni movement has grown and gained momentum, we have discovered that regardless of age, race, ethnicity, geography, education, occupation, or placement history, as alumni of the foster care system we have a great deal in common. Our shared experiences form the basis of a shared culture-the culture of foster care. We are exploring the culture of foster care through our community art project where people in and from foster care share their observations, insights, and lessons on postcards.

Foster Care Alumni of America is a national non-profit association that has been founded and is led by alumni of the foster care system. We use the term alumni to describe those of us who have been in foster care during our childhood/youth.

The mission of FCAA is to connect the alumni community and to transform foster care policy and practice, ensuring opportunity for people in and from foster care.

*all italicized type is taken directly from the FCAA website

By purchasing gift cards through the new Matthews House online gift card store, you can help to provide young adults in transition with the weekly mentoring support, recreational activities, life-skills training, academic support, and career-building activities they need to build a successful future full of hope.

With dozens of gift card options, you can contribute to The Matthews House through your everyday purchases, like gas, groceries or office supplies – as well as by purchasing Christmas gifts for friends and family.

Gift cards are sent directly to you by mail with no additional shipping or handling. So for example, you pay $100 for a $100 gift card to Home Depot delivered to your door in about a week and the Matthews House receives $4-$8 (depending on the retailer). You can even set up recurring purchases each month and use the store to help you budget. And you can still use your credit card so you get those points or miles.

This is a great chance to support the Matthews House without spending an extra dollar!

Come check it out!