Fill a Heart 4 Kids

OUR STORY

In 2007, the McAveeney family opened their hearts & home to a precious baby in need of a temporary home. This experience exposed them to a world of vulnerable children couch-hopping, living in abandoned buildings, cars, garages, or living in under-funded foster care facilities and group homes. For 16 years, the McAveeneys' home has been a safe place for homeless children and teens across the Chicagoland area.

OUR MISSION

Fill a Heart 4 Kids provides homeless, at risk, and foster children food, critical necessities, life skills and educational support to empower and Build Brighter Futures 4 Kids!

OUR GOAL

Is for homeless youth and foster children to heal, feel valued and receive critical resources and opportunities from the community to achieve Brighter Futures 4 Kids!

FACTS

In Illinois, there are approximately 25,000 unaccompanied homeless youth and nearly 3,400 foster youth waiting to be adopted. State resources are woefully inadequate and do not provide enough basic necessities for homeless and foster youth. These precious children have experienced unimaginable pain and suffering. They struggle to focus in school because they are worried about finding a safe place to sleep at night, food, school supplies or clean clothes. They feel shame and sadness when they are bulled for wearing dirty clothes or when they hear classmates talk about birthday parties and holiday festivities.  Some resort to trafficking themselves to obtain basic necessities. Many stop attending school.

MODEL

In partnership with teachers, social workers, principals and vetted social services organizations, we work to help the most vulnerable children. We provide critical supplies to restore dignity, reduce peer shaming and increase academic attendance. We welcome children into our beautiful newly-renovated facility where we provide life skills opportunities, educational programs and special celebrations to increase foster children's self-confidence and sense of belonging.

We tutor at group homes, host special events and transform holidays into special experiences to help children feel loved and remembered. We rely on our vast volunteer network and purchase supplies by the pallet tax-free at reduced rates to maximize the efficiency of our operations, reduce our overhead and ensure our donors' dollars go further.

WHAT WE DO

FAH4K sponsors over 2,400 at-risk youth annually in various capacities. Each year, we host over 400 volunteer experiences for individuals, groups, corporations and team-building experiences to leverage resources and services to create the best outcome for children in desperate need. We provide foster, homeless, and at-risk youth with:

• MEAL SECURITY
• EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT
• WINTER COMFORT
• LIFE SKILLS
• CELEBRATIONS
• CONFIDENCE BUILDING INITIATIVES
• DIGNITY RESTORATION

Host:  Tina Ballis