This holiday season, the Penn State LA Chapter is participating in Beyond Shelter's "Adopt-A-Family" program which helps the increasing number of homeless families in the Los Angeles area.  We have graciously been assigned a family in need of help and would appreciate all efforts to help ensure they have as much as a comfortable, loving holiday as possible. 

TO PARTICIPATE

You can either make a cash donation HERE for another member to purchase a gift on your behalf or commit to bring a gift from the FAMILY REGISTRY (Password: nittany lion) HERE.

Included in the registry, you will see the family's list of needs and additional items that would make their holiday a little extra special.  In an effort to not duplicate gifts from our donors, we ask that you please check-off any gift from this registry that you have purchased and are donating towards this cause. 

GIFT WRAPPING

All gifts that will be transported to the family via a staff member at Beyond Shelter need to be gift wrapped and appropriately tagged. It is your choice to address the gift from "Santa", "Your Name" or "PSU LA", or any other format you wish.

We will be hosting a complimentary gift wrap station at the holiday party.  If you are attending, please feel free to drop-off your unwrapped gifts at the table and one of Santa's helpers will wrap and tag it for you.

If you are not attending the party and will drop-off your gift at an alternate location, you can still drop off an unwrapped gift and we will transport it to the party for you.  If you still wish to wrap and tag your gift, please place a sticky note on the gift so we can identify it's contents in case the registry wasn't updated appropriately.  We are just trying to maximize the various gifts we can offer the family.

DEADLINES

All online cash donations must be submitted by December 14th.
All gifts must be dropped off either at the holiday party or a pre-arranged alternate location by December 14th.
Thank you for all of your contributions!
 

Here are the details on the family we will be adopting:

Parents: Rosario, age 28 and Dogoberto, age 25
Children: 5 children, ages 10, 8, 6, 5, and 2 years-old
Current Situation:  Transitional Housing

Their Story:

Rosario and Dogoberto are a, Latino, married couple with 5 children.   Rosario’s four oldest children are from a previous marriage to a man who had physically and emotionally abused her for several years.  Due to the abuse she endured throughout her marriage, Rosario developed an addiction to drugs.  When she finally had the courage to leave her husband, she was not able to care for her children on her own and they were place in foster care system.  When she lost her children, Rosario checked herself in to an inpatient drug rehabilitation program to get clean and sober. During her time in rehab, she met Dogoberto. The couple fell in love and got married. When Rosario completed rehab, she was able to get her children back and at the same time discovered that she was pregnant with her fifth child.  The couple was unable to find housing that they could afford, so they moved to a transitional housing program for homeless families where they received a referral to Beyond Shelter’s “Housing First” Program for Homeless Families for help getting back into permanent housing.

Beyond Shelter has been working very closely with the couple to develop a permanent housing plan. Rosario and Dogoberto are also working with Beyond Shelter’s Housing Relocation Department to find a low-income apartment that they will be able to afford.   After the family moves into housing, they will receive intensive and individualized case management support to help them learn the skills they will need to stabilize in housing and prevent a future reoccurrence homelessness.  They will also receive life skills training, budget and money management training, resources and referrals, emotional support, donations of furniture and basic household supplies, transportation assistance, as well as other supportive services to help them rebuild their lives.
 
With the help of a Beyond Shelter Employment Specialist, Dogoberto has obtained a job as a supervisor at a retail chain.  The family is also very involved with their church and credits their faith for helping them turn their lives around. They are all looking forward to being a family in a home of their own.
 
 

For more information about Beyond Shelter, be sure to check out their website: http://www.beyondshelter.org