A Month of Thankfulness – wayne centrone

I love the Holiday Season.

From Thanksgiving through the New Year, I get giddy with excitement. Part of my joy is in slowing the pace of life. The busyness of life gives way to a bit more time for reflection and patience. Things seem to take on a different focus over the Holiday Season.

The work of HBI is about a community – a group of passionate change-makers. We are blessed to have a fantastic team of dedicated staff and a community of generous supporters. That is why we are planning to start this Holiday Season with a series of blog posts around the thankfulness we feel at HBI.

From our work in the Casa Girasoles program to help formerly abandoned boys find the pathway to the lives they deserve – to our newborn resuscitation training program – we are making a difference. Much of this difference is because of the trust and generosity we receive from hundreds of donors and supporters. Thank you.

To start our Month of Thankfulness, I want to tell you a brief story of appreciation: Juan* (6), David (4), and Carlos (7) lived with their 12-year-old sister. She was the only mother they had ever known. One day their older sister went to the local police station to ask for help. She couldn’t continue raising the three brothers on her own.

A case was opened with child protective services for the four siblings. To support their transition to safety, the children were brought to the Casa Girasoles. With HBI’s connections – a loving, supportive home was identified for the 12-year-old, as the Casa Girasoles Program only accommodates boys. Thanks to the tireless efforts of HBI’s Social Worker, the team established a plan to support the reunification of the children as quickly as possible.

The three brothers quickly settled into their new home at the Casa Girasoles. The goal is to reunite the siblings with a family member who can take all four and keep them together. However, for now – we are thankful that through the generosity of donors and supporters, we have the staffing, financial resources, and connections to help these precious young boys and beautiful young woman begin to rebuild their lives.

Thank you for helping HBI create safe, loving environments to rebuild the lives of traumatized, neglected and marginalized children. Together we are changing lives.

*Names have been changed