April Newsletter
A Bittersweet Farewell to our CEO, Dr. Hegarty
Last month we bid farewell to Dr. Hegarty, the former CEO of Hope For Youth, who has retired after over 40 years at Hope For Youth. Though saddened by his departure, we remain grateful for his years of service and exceptional leadership. Under Dr. Hegarty’s guidance, Hope For Youth achieved remarkable success and positively impacted the lives of countless young people. His unwavering dedication, inspiring vision, and tireless efforts were a source of inspiration to us all, and we were privileged to have been part of his team. We express our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Hegarty for his remarkable commitment to the mission of Hope For Youth. He provided us with endless opportunities to grow both professionally and personally, and we are thankful for his leadership. Although we miss him dearly, the impact of his leadership and dedication will continue to motivate and inspire us all.
We thank Dr. Hegarty for the incredible experience throughout the years.
We celebrated the retirement of Dr. Hegarty with family, friends and coworkers at Captain Bill’s
Employee Appreciation Luncheon
Every March, Hope For Youth hosts a lunch to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day and show our deep gratitude for the exceptional work of the Hope For Youth staff in making a positive impact in the lives of our youth and families.
Big shout out to Jackson Hall in East Islip for graciously hosting us this year
What’s Happening in April!
April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a time when we acknowledge the importance of promoting the safety and well-being of our children. At Hope For Youth, we are dedicated to supporting and empowering our youth through our various programs and services. One such program is our Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) program, which provides intervention for children from birth through age 5 who have experienced at least one traumatic event. This program helps to prevent and mitigate the effects of trauma, which can have a significant impact on a child’s development and overall well-being. Together, we can create a safer and more nurturing environment for our children and prevent child abuse from occurring in our communities.
April is National Volunteer Month, a time when we celebrate and honor the dedication and service of volunteers across the United States. At Hope For Youth, we rely on the support and generosity of volunteers to help us fulfill our mission of improving the lives of children, youth, and families in our community. Volunteering with Hope For Youth is a great way to give back and make a positive impact in the lives of our youth. From providing mentorship and tutoring to helping with special events and activities, there are many ways to get involved and make a difference. Whether you have a few hours to spare or want to make a more long-term commitment, we welcome volunteers of all backgrounds and experiences. By volunteering with Hope For Youth, you can help to create a brighter future for our youth and strengthen our communities.
Visit our website at https://www.hfyny.org/ to learn more about how you can get involved and make a difference today.
Learn more about how you can volunteer for Hope For Youth: https://www.hfyny.org/how-you-can-help/volunteering/
March Newsletter
Social Work Month! #SocialWorkBreaksBarriers
Social Workers are extraordinary individuals. The social worker’s job is not just about helping people, but also advocating for human rights and justice. They transform communities where clients can grow and thrive, creating healthier foundations for future generations. Words used to describe social workers include but are not limited to: change agents, problem solvers, critical thinkers, facilitators, advocators, counselors, clinicians, organizers, activists, planners, politicians, lobbyist, writers, and researchers. Source: UMBC
The positive impact our Licensed Social Workers have on our families and youth is life changing. Their devotion and continued support services and therapies help to bring positive change for our youth and their families – one full of bright light, healing, hope, strength and change.
Programs like our Therapeutic Foster Care and Residential Services enlist the help of our Hope For Youth Social Workers to ensure our youth’s care and needs are being met by offering unwavering support throughout their healing process.
Therapeutic Foster Care
- Out-of-home care by foster parents with special training
- Provide safe, caring homes
- Meet with HFY Social Workers for check-ins and therapies
Residential Services
- Provide a safe, inclusive and secure environment for youth
- Treatment planning with HFY Social Workers for continued growth and success
Meet Irgma Edington
We are thrilled and honored to have Irma Edington, LMSW continue to champion the mission of Hope For Youth as our new Executive Director and CEO! Irma was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Queens when she was 3 years old. She earned her undergraduate Social Work degree from St. John’s University and her graduate degree from Hunter College. Irma joined HFY as the Director of Foster Care in 2000, and rose to Assistant Executive Director in 2021.
During her time at HFY, Irma has been instrumental in growing HFY’s Foster Boarding Home, designing and implementing the Intensive and Supportive Case Management (ISCM) Program, Community Reinvestment Program, Nassau PINS Preventive Program, and HEART Program.
Irma is a dedicated, nurturing leader. She is a lodestar role model to her staff. Through her teamwork approach, intuitiveness, and emotional stability, she has been able to support, challenge, and guide them into long lasting and rewarding careers at Hope For Youth. Irma is very well regarded in the social work community and presents and communicates on behalf of the agency to bring attention to the need for all children to have a home and the need for families to consider opening their doors to children in need.
Donation Requests
Your donation changes lives. You can make a difference in the lives of our children, youth and families. We are always looking for toiletries, new toys, new infant clothes, diaper bags, diapers and wipes, and gift cards.
We are currently seeking:
Bibs and Pacifiers, Jumperoo, PS4 Gaming system
All donations can be dropped off at our Amityville location: 201 Dixon Avenue, Amityville, NY 11701
February Newsletter
Celebrating and spreading love and thanks
We laughed and smiled our way into the New Year and have hit the ground running in 2023. We enjoyed our youth and staff holiday events and shed bountiful thanks to our donors, supporters, and volunteers for going above and beyond.
Just because the holidays are over, the work doesn’t stop there. We’re focusing on strengthening our programs, hiring new teammates, and working with the community to help best serve our existing youth and families.
The Heart Program
What better month than February to spotlight Hope For Youth’s Heart Program.
HEART stands for Help Enhance Attachments and Remain Together.
The focus of HEART is to prevent a disruption of a family that will/could result in the imminent placement of a child in foster care, enabling a child who has been placed in foster care to return to his/her family at an earlier time than would otherwise be impossible, and to reduce the likelihood that a child who has been discharged from foster care would return to such care.
Licensed Social Workers provide therapies and support services to families/children in the HEART program with a large focus on treatments addressing the parent-child relationship for families with young children. The HEART Program also provides families with Case Planners who will meet with them at a minimum, twice per month. The Case Planners will work collaboratively with families, children and outside service providers to create service plans to address identified needs.
To learn more about our HEART Program call 516-221-5435 or email pins@hfyny.org
We Love a Success Story
Hope for Youth’s Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program (JDTC) provides clients with Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT). This therapy is often challenging for clients and families, but its rewards are abundant. The following success story (shared by a MDFT supervisor) is one of many from this program, and we feel honored to work alongside such incredibly talented and caring therapists, caseworks, and supervisors.
Client G was referred to Hope For Youth’s Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Program due to severe drug and alcohol use and experimentation, being physically aggressive with his family members, refusal to attend school, unmanaged symptoms of depression, anxiety and intense history of suicidal and homicidal behaviors. Client G and his mother received Multidimensional Family Therapy for 6 months where both identified individual and family goals that were necessary to achieve for Client G to remain out of placement from home and to comply with probation and court mandates.
At the start the engagement phase was challenging. However, soon Client G was able to connect how MDFT model approach was different from what he had experienced in the past and actually tailored to all the needs he was able to prioritize to feel and become a successful young man.
An initially extremely guarded client who struggled with identifying any positive relationships in his life soon developed a healthy therapeutic alliance with his therapist allowing himself to be vulnerable and honest with both therapist and family. During a 6 month duration the client actively engaged in treatment to work through issues in his life including building self-confidence, better understanding of family dynamics, and acceptance of his parents’ divorce. He learned to utilize healthy and socially acceptable coping skills to manage his symptoms of anxiety and depression. Instead of aggression he began to utilize effective communication, negotiation, and conflict resolution skills.”
We applaud our clients for their hard work and success.
January Newsletter
A Happy New Year Indeed!
As Hope for Youth heads into 2023 we’d be remiss if we didn’t take a moment to thank our sponsors, employees, donors, families and incredible youth for your support and dedication throughout the entirety of last year. We’re forging ahead into the new year with high hopes and renewed dedication to continuing to serve our youth and families as best we can. Here’s a look back at some of our favorite holiday moments as we wrapped up 2022!
- Photo Booth Fun – The holiday staff party with a hit, especially with the photo booth donated by Jennifer Bucal at All The Way Events!
- Youth Holiday Party – Our Youth had an absolute BLAST at their holiday party!! It was hosted at Dave & Buster’s where the kids had an action-packed evening of fun playing games and hanging out with friends. Check out the video below from the talented Zane Robinson at Life’s Interpretation.
- Wrapping Party – We had a wonderful wrapping party that took place on December 15th. We had 4 rooms of wrapping going on simultaneously with holiday music and lots of cheer! Thank you to Jim Deerfield for capturing the night.
Moments Like This
It brings us great joy to have moments like this with our youth. The happiness was beaming from Nicolette as she opened her gifts. She was super excited, and thanked everyone involved.
Help End Homelessness
Imagine having no place to sleep tonight.The freezing temperatures create urgent needs for homeless individuals and we’re calling on you to help. One donation to Hope for Youth’s Runaway and Homeless Shelter can help provide safe shelter, meals and housing support.
December Newsletter
Holiday Happenings at Hope For Youth
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – and quite possibly the busiest! Hope for Youth is gearing up for the holidays with many events and with hopeful spirits that we can help provide our youth with a joyous holiday season.
Our Youth Holiday Party is Wednesday, December 14th at Dave & Busters of Massapequa from 5:00-7:00pm. Sponsored by the Ackerman Foundation and Teamster Horseman Association.”
Our Wrapping Party is Thursday, December 15th from 5:00-7:30pm at our Amityville location – 201 Dixon Ave, Amityville, NY, 11701. Bring along your pair of scissors and 1-2 rolls of wrapping paper. Light refreshments will be served.
If you would like to attend the Youth Holiday Party and/or join us for our Wrapping Party, please RSVP to Nadia Campbell-Mitchell.
Consider Adding a Stocking to Your Mantle
This holiday season, every child deserves a loving family, and YOU can be that family. There are hundreds of children on Long Island currently needing Foster Parents and many others at risk of aging out of the Foster Care System leaving them with no permanent home. YOU can provide a safe, loving and stable home. YOU can surround these children with individuals who truly care and who are dedicated to helping make lifelong positive memories with them. Becoming a Foster Parent this year could truly be the greatest gift of all.
To find out more please consider attending our upcoming Foster Parent Orientation on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 from 6-8pm. All orientations are via ZOOM.
Contact Christina Anello at 631-813-9572 if you are interested OR if you cannot attend but would like to schedule a separate orientation.
Holiday Wish List
Let’s end 2022 with generosity, happiness and kindness and make our foster children’s wishes come true! We have put together an Amazon wish list this holiday season. If you would like to support our foster care children, click the link below to browse and purchase the gifts and they will be sent directly to our office.
https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/130SLIMXUE8UH/guest-view?ref=cm_sw_em_r_gr_un_o9czDa9bsZXdF
All other items can be dropped off or shipped directly to:
201 Dixon Avenue Amityville, NY 11701.
Please add Attn: Nadia Campbell-Mitchell for all shipments
Adopt a Family
Adopt a family for the holidays and spread cheer for an entire family. If you are interested, please email Nadia Campbell-Mitchell and she will match you with a family and their wishlist.
2021 Annual Report
Tomorrow is the Start of Social Work Month
Did you know that March is Social Work Month? We wish to thank all our HFY social workers for their passion, purpose and heart. Your impact is immeasurable! During Social Work Month, we encourage all of our community members to learn about the many positive contributions of this profession. The theme for 2022 is “The Time is Right for Social Work”. Social workers have been an integral part of our nation for decades. They played key roles in the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements and pushed for social programs we now take for granted, including the minimum wage, a 40-hour work week, Social Security and Medicare. Cheers, to all social workers everywhere!
Foster Parents Needed
Click below for further info and registration details: https://www.hfyny.org/become-a-foster-parent/ . We are committed to providing quality care and stability for our foster children while working towards a more permanent and stable plan for their future.
Why We Do What We Do – HFY’s Runaway & Homeless Youth Services
Each year, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness, of which 700,000 are unaccompanied minors, meaning they are not part of a family or accompanied by a parent or guardian.
On any given night, approximately 41,000 unaccompanied youth ages 13-25 experience homelessness.
One in 10 young adults ages 18-25, and at least one in 30 adolescents ages 13-17, experience some form of homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year. 29% of homeless youth report having substance misuse problems. 69% of homeless youth report mental health problems. 33% had once been part of the foster care system. 50% of homeless youth have been in the juvenile justice system, in jail or detention. 27% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) youth who are homeless reported exchanging sex for basic needs compared to 9% of non-LGBTQ youth who reported having to exchange sex for basic needs. 62% of LGBTQ youth report being physically harmed while experiencing homelessness while 47% of non-LGBTQ youth reported being physically harmed while homeless.
The lack of a high school diploma or General Equivalency Diploma (GED) is the number one correlate for elevated risk of youth homelessness. Many factors increase a young person’s odds of experiencing homelessness. Demographic risk factors for becoming homeless include being Hispanic or black; parenting and unmarried; or LGBTQ, with LGBTQ youth having more than twice the risk of being homeless than their cisgender or heterosexual peers.
We believe that all youth deserve a safe haven and to have their essential needs met. If you know someone who needs these services please share our number: call or text – 24/7 Hotline – 516-659-0923
HFY CEO in Conversation with Hofstra University’s WRHU-FM Radio Station
HFY Executive Director and CEO, Dr. David Hegarty participated in a conversation with WRHU – FM’s “NEWSLINE” recently, to discuss the process of providing our serivces for Long Island youth in need.
Listen here, to hear the full interview or click on “play” below. HFY is grateful for the opportunity to participate in community radio programming and thanks WRHU-FM for the recognition and invitation.