A Christmas tree lot in New Westminster is helping to improve the lives of children in foster care and young moms.
Since 1988, Aunt Leah’s Place has been helping to prevent children in foster care from becoming homeless when they age out of the system and lose government support, and helping teen moms avoid losing custody of their children. In addition to supported housing, pre-employment training and life skills, the New Westminster-based society operates a home for pregnant or parenting teen moms under 19, a home for new moms who are at risk of being homeless or losing their babies to the foster care system, as well as a number of semi-independent residences in the region for youth 15 to 18 who are still in Ministry of Children and Family Development care.
“The main thing is that Aunt Leah’s provides a family model of care. We treat the youth who are going through our programs like most parents would treat their kids – they are not going to kick them out at 19,” said communications coordinator Clete Hanson. “The defining hallmark of this organization is that the individuals who are participants can never age out.”
Whether it’s by providing services or emotional support, Aunt Leah’s continues to support its participants into adulthood and through various facets of their lives such as parenting and educational pursuits.
Christmas is a key time for the non-profit’s fundraising efforts, as that’s when it sets up charity tree lots in the Lower Mainland to raise money for its programs. A new addition to this year’s efforts is a tree lot right here in New Westminster.
“We are up over $15,000 now for the lot. It’s totally helping our totals,” Hanson said of the $325,000 raised at last year’s lots. “Overall, because of the New West lot, we are already at that marker. It’s been a great show of support from New Westminster residents. We are really happy to be in the community.”
The local lot is located in the Brewery District, 287 Nelson’s Crt., and is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays until Dec. 21. The tree lots are Aunt Leah’s largest fundraiser, accounting for at least 10 per cent of its annual budget.
In addition to buying a tree at an Aunt Leah’s Place lot, people can support the organization by volunteering at Aunt Leah’s events or making a donation.
“They can also run their own third-party fundraisers. They can do anything. They can be holding their birthday party and say, ‘Hey, everybody, bring $5 and I’ll dedicate my birthday.’ We recently had an office that did a chili cook-off. We got the proceeds from it,” Hanson said. “People are doing really creative things. They can get involved in different ways. Those are important too because they drum up conversations about what’s happening with youth in care.”
For more information, see www.auntleahs.org.