So you've heard of Home for the Holidays, sure... but do you actually know what the purchase of your $100 ticket actually goes toward?
Try four uniquely amazing Acadiana nonprofits: Lafayette Habitat for Humanity, Healing House, Faith House of Acadiana, and Foster the Love Louisiana. Your donation helps keep these organizations afloat — not just through the holiday season, but year-round.
But let's focus on that last one for a second — Foster the Love. If you don't already know, it's a nonprofit devoted to supporting foster kids, teens, and their families. I got to pay a visit to their brand new brick-and-mortar store at 113 Jared Drive in Broussard (which they paid for with help from Home for the Holidays donations!) and what I saw was overwhelming.
From a community closet stocked with clothes and shoes, to toys and pre-packed overnight bags, a playroom, even beds and other goods to get the transition into a new home started, the organization's goal is to provide a foster family with anything they may need during their time together.
“Many of our kids haven’t had something of their own and it’s also just to know that they’re provided for, whether it’s a pacifier for a baby, or a journal for a teen that they can put their thoughts in, a blanket that they can keep on them and it begins to smell like home and be one of those comfort items for them," Heather Meylian, executive director of the nonprofit and a foster parent herself, told me. "It can just mean a lot because it’s something that belongs to them during a time when everything’s been removed from them.”
For the Guidry family, it's irreplaceable help that doesn't go unnoticed.
“Being a foster parent is hard and it’s emotionally tolling and so having a community that Foster the Love has helped create to get the support we need, to get the emotional support, to talk to others," said Emily Guidry, a proud foster mom since 2018. "Also, kids grow and have growth spurts, so having that closet there to go shop for them for clothes, keeping siblings together, getting to easily get a bed when we needed one, that support and feeling seen and heard has helped us to continue our foster journey, to continue being foster parents even when we maybe wanted to quit, which has given more stability to these kids that need it.”
Like the other nonprofits listed, Foster the Love accepts donations year-round, but the holiday season is top priority right now. While they appreciate all donations, they tell me that fun, age-appropriate teenage clothes and shoes for girls and boys are of most need right now. They rely fully on donations, whether physical items or monetary, to help these kids feel as comfortable as possible during their transition to a new home.
Beyond donations, you might consider giving some of your time as a volunteer if you cannot open your home to a family member right now, as Foster the Love needs all the help they can get to get their new building organized and provide families easier access to the things they need.
“It is so important for the community to rally around the people that need it most in our area," Guidry told me. "These are our children, these are our people, and it’s great to have a community that steps up and helps them.”
If you'd like to help the cause with a Home for the Holidays donation, you can find full contest rules and regulations here.
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