Our Programs
Bless-A-Birthday
Shelters: Birthday celebrations at area shelters and housing or program facilities serving homeless children and families.
Schools: Anonymous classroom birthday parties for transient homeless elementary students, and 'Fit to Celebrate' birthday backpacks for middle and high school students.
Bless-A-Baby
Baskets full of new clothing, blankets, food, healthcare supplies and critical care-essentials help welcome and support the emergent needs of babies entering homelessness.
Bless-A-Birthday: Shelter Services
This program brings the simple childhood joy of birthday parties to homeless children ages tots to teens -- a first-time experience for most --while giving them a sense of recognition and value on their special days, and creating a time of togetherness for families experiencing the challenges of homelessness.
As the founding program of Bright Blessings, our Shelter Parties project continues to bring birthday joy and recognition every month to homeless children at shelters or housing/program facilities across the greater Charlotte area. Children and families at the shelters are invited to the parties and those with birthdays in that month are celebrated. Bright Blessings parties typically include:
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Meal & beverages
Meal & beverages•Party supplies and decorations
Party supplies and decorations•Cake & juice
Cake & juice•Party activities/special programs
Party activities/special programs•Birthday presents
Birthday presents•Goodie bags for all of the children
Goodie bags for all of the childrenParty themes include a wide variety of hands-on educational and enrichment activities, bringing experiences to children of all ages who might otherwise not have access to such programs.
Interested in participating? Our Adopt-a-Party program is a great way to offer your support! Click here to learn MORE about getting involved.
Bless-A-Birthday: Student Services
In partnership with A Child's Place and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, transient homeless students are identified for this program. These children do not live in area shelters but rather in motels, campgrounds, cars, and other transient situations. All student services include birthday and snack packages as well as new gifts, books, and Care & Comfort Bags.
For homeless elementary students, a classroom birthday party helps boost confidence and empowers each child by giving them an opportunity to be givers in a peer environment while celebrating their special days. For homeless middle and high school students, our 'Fit to Celebrate' birthday backpacks lift spirits, promote good health & fitness, and strengthen family bonds during times of hardship.
Our student services program brings recognition and cheer while boosting confidence for homeless youth who are experiencing the most desperate living situations of all.
For most of these children this is the only “real” birthday celebration they will have, and for many it will be a first-time experience.
Elementary School Classroom Parties
This anonymous program boosts self esteem and empowers homeless elementary students by giving them an opportunity to be givers in a peer environment while celebrating their special days. Birthday students receive special snack bags and party supplies to celebrate at school with classmates.
How does it work?
Every week, Bright Blessings volunteers assemble and deliver classroom party packages dozens of homeless elementary students who will be celebrating their birthdays. This anonymous program helps ensure the privacy of each student's living situation among peers. Our volunteers deliver the party supplies, gifts and care packages to school social workers who then take the party packs to appropriate teachers so that the children can have birthday parties in class with their friends.
What is provided with each Classroom Party Package?
Every birthday student receives the following:
•24 party snack bags
24 party snack bags •Birthday snack plates and napkins
Birthday snack plates and napkinsMiddle School "Fit to Celebrate" backpacks
In response to the continued rise in obsesity among underprivileged youth, Bright Blessings launched a "Fit to Celebrate" program to serve transient homeless middle and high school students. This program provides birthday supplies in backpacks to school social workers so that these teens can celebrate their birthdays at "home" with family members. Each FTC backpack includes healthy snacks and beverages, party supplies and birthday treats, as well as a fitness fun activity set and a Care & Comfort Bag.
Want to get involved with our Bless-A-Birthday schools project? Click here to learn MORE about volunteer and support opportunities.
Bless-A-Baby
Imagine leaving the hospital with your newborn and taking your child "home" to a shelter. Or arriving to an emergency shelter with nothing more than a small bag of personal items and a young baby or a baby on the way.
Every week across our community newborns and young babies are arriving to homeless shelters and domestic violence programs, oftentimes without even the most basic care necessities. Their mothers are filled with stress and anxiety, and lack the resources needed to ensure the immediate best care for their babies in the midst of a new and unstable living situation.
Our Bless-A-Baby program helps welcome and support the arrival of these homeless babies by providing for their emergent health and well being. Each Blessing Basket is filled with clothing, blankets, food, baby supplies and critical-care essentials-- tailored to meet the individual needs of the child -- and wrapped with a large pink or blue ribbon & bow.
This program not only brings happiness and stress relief to homeless mothers, it provides essentials for the care of needy babies, giving each child a healthier and more positive start to life.
How can you help? Click here to learn MORE about opportunities to help us continue blessing these little ones.
The Giving Village at Bright Blessings USAService to the community, by the community.As an entirely volunteer-led organization, Bright Blessings amassed a record number of volunteer service hours in 2010—over 10,000 hours. With continued expansion across a four-county service region, it takes hundreds of volunteers every month to organize and deliver the programs of Bright Blessings to our homeless community.
In April 2011, Bright Blessings officially opened the doors to its new facility, The Giving Village, a concept inspired by the organization’s founding goal of providing relevant, hands-on volunteer opportunities for children—and people of all ages—in a safe, comfortable, and uplifting environment.
The nearly 4,000 square foot facility located at 608 Matthews-Mint Hill Road near Presbyterian Hospital is now home to the programs and projects of Bright Blessings, hosting hundreds of volunteers and visitors monthly. Each aspect of the organization and its program services has been brought to life in the form of a small town operated by its “villagers”—a community of volunteers.
Upon arrival, visitors and volunteers are greeted with a brief tour that includes a Community Center display and overview of our community’s family homeless shelters and housing support programs, followed by a look at the goods and services provided annually by Bright Blessings to aid children experiencing the affects of homelessness.
The village’s Main Street area features artistic renderings of a library, neighborhood school, toy shop, baby boutique and party supply store—all representing the Bright Blessings programs—and each one organized with the necessary products and project supplies. The town center’s “Village Green” provides ample space for groups of volunteers to gather and work, and the Village Play Land offers a fun-time space for our littlest helpers. The facility's Neighborhood Cafe gives volunteers a chance to refresh and recharge, and provides space for special events.
The goal of Bright Blessings is to provide programs and services that bring joy and support to local homeless children, while offering a unique and uplifting place for people of all ages to volunteer. At The Giving Village even the youngest of children can learn about the needs in our community and actively participate in providing solutions through projects that are relevant and age-appropriate. It is a place where groups of all ages—from business and civic teams, to families and youth groups—can come together to help brighten the lives of homeless children who need our support.
It Takes A Village... DONATE TODAY and help support the programs of Bright Blessings with your gift to The Giving Village.
Who We Serve
Bright Blessings is proud to provide its programs and services to homeless children and families associated with the following facilities and/or community programs in Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, and York counties:
As resources allow, Bright Blessings will continue to expand its reach, bringing programs and suport to as many homeless children as possible. Please help us continue to grow with your gift. DONATE today!
“The Bright Blessings team shows unconditional love to the children. They make the kids feel special, and that’s the one thing all children need.”
Karen Prioleau
Salvation Army Center of Hope
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HOW WE SERVE:
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Cabarrus County, N.C.
York County, S.C.
Union County, N.C.
Mecklenburg County, N.C
Families Together Program
The Shelter for Battered Women
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
(Salvation Army - Supportive Housing)
