Excited for the new school year, families at HFH residences came together for back-to-school celebrations filled with backpacks, games, sweet treats, and more. While the festivities set the tone for a fresh start, the rising cost of school supplies continues to burden families everywhere. This year, we are especially grateful to our generous donors and volunteers, whose support ensured HFH kids had what they needed to head back to school with confidence.

At Clinton, families picked up bookbags and supplies to get ready for the new year. One father made a point to stop during the festivities to say, “Thank you so much for giving these supplies to my son.” A third grader-to-be shared her own excitement: “I love school. I have my friends. I like math.”

Saratoga families gathered at the outdoor space for a day of celebration. Kids ran around the basketball court, hula-hooped, and played sports while enjoying face and body painting. A snow cone truck let them mix and match their own flavors, and balloons and brand-new backpacks proved to be the highlight of the day.

At Allie’s Place, families filled the Afterschool & Recreation space for a back-to-school celebration. The Afterschool, Administration, and Family Services teams hosted tables with information on programs while giving out backpacks, books, supplies, and Metrocards. Sargeant Damico and the NYPD Community Affairs team stopped by with toys and games, while the Culinary team provided snacks of cupcakes, churros, and fruit medleys.

Williamsbridge Recreation hosted its annual celebration with plenty of activities to kick off the year. Families enjoyed a magician, face painting, and cotton candy while kids picked up backpacks and supplies. The Rec team decorated the space for the occasion, and families snapped Polaroid photos to mark the milestone.

These celebrations wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of our partners and donors. A special thank you goes to the Brooke Jackman Foundation, Old Navy, the Hollis Lions Club, the Rosedale Lions Club, and JFK Millennium Partners for helping ensure that every kid at HFH walked into the school year prepared and confident.

Across our early education programs, students, families, and teachers gathered to mark a year of growth, learning, and exciting milestones. From superhero-themed ceremonies to awards and performances, each celebration honored the achievements of the kids and the community that supports them.

At Prospect, families filled the room to cheer on their 3K and PreK students—those moving up to PreK and those heading off to kindergarten. Dressed as superheroes, the children danced, sang, and enjoyed an acai bowl buffet, all while being celebrated for their hard work.

“The children have worked very hard this year—they have learned many new things such as ABC’s and their numbers,” said Rafaela Bruno, Director of Early Childhood Education. “They have made new friends, and they have learned to share and be kind to each other… Graduates—this is the beginning of your learning adventure. Continue to be the amazing, kind, hard-working children that you are.”

Saratoga’s superhero-themed celebration also brought together students and their families for a lively send-off. Each kid received a personalized certificate recognizing their unique strengths—like “Biggest Heart,” “Certificate of Kindness,” “Sports Award,” and “Classroom Leadership.” It was a joyful celebration of both academic and personal growth.

Allie’s Place turned up the music for a High School Musical-themed celebration, complete with performances, family photo ops, and a nutritious lunch. One student graduated to kindergarten, while the others proudly moved up to PreK. Families were also recognized with awards to honor their unwavering support throughout the school year. The day concluded with a slideshow of highlights from the year of learning and memories.

HFH Family Residences have been staying busy over the past few months—learning, engaging with community partners, and celebrating the season. From hands-on lessons in our Early Education programs to exciting Afterschool activities and festive holiday events, families and staff have made the most of winter.

In our Early Education programs, the young learners explored the Clothing and Tree units through interactive lessons. In Saratoga Early Ed, the kids created self-portraits using textures and patterns to express their unique styles. Their alphabet exploration led them to focus on the letter P for Pajamas, designing their own paper pajamas while connecting letters to real-world concepts. Prospect Early Ed took a hands-on approach by washing classroom smocks and doll clothes—building life-skills while fostering teamwork and responsibility. They even built a classroom washing machine for their dramatic play area. Meanwhile, Saratoga Early Ed’s Tree Unit encouraged students to learn about how trees grow and what they provide. After exploring different fruits that grow on trees, they blended their discoveries into smoothies—a fun and nutritional snack.

The Afterschool programs kept kids engaged through exciting partnerships and skill-building activities. Young photographers at Williamsbridge sharpened their skills with Kids With Cameras, learning the basics of DSLR photography while experimenting with focus, exposure, and composition. In Allie’s Place Afterschool, kids stayed active through the cold months with hip-hop classes led by National Enrichment Group, building confidence and rhythm. Cooking has been a key focus at both Saratoga Afterschool and Williamsbridge—also with National Enrichment Group. At Saratoga, the kids have been learning essential kitchen skills and nutrition basics, while at Williamsbridge, parents and kids cooked side by side, making dishes like Caesar salad and chicken fettuccini Alfredo.

Families across our residences have embraced the spirit of celebration, marking Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day, and Black History Month with engaging activities. Allie’s Place Early Ed honored Black History Month by learning about artists like Alma Thomas and Jean-Michel Basquiat, inspiring children to create their own vibrant masterpieces, while Prospect Afterschool discussed influential Black leaders and crafted collages filled with empowering quotes and images that celebrate Black history. Saratoga Afterschool is also preparing for their annual Black History Month Showcase—stay tuned! In Allie’s Place Afterschool, kids explored Lunar New Year traditions, discovering their Chinese Zodiac signs and playing New Year Bingo. Valentine’s Day was also a highlight—Saratoga Early Ed hosted a gathering where families decorated picture frames and created sensory water bottles, while Allie’s Place held a Valentine’s Day Jam featuring outreach tables, a makeup giveaway, and a spread of sweet treats prepared by Allie’s Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment.

With spring around the corner, we look forward to even more opportunities for creativity and connection across our programs.

The holiday season at HFH Family Residences was a time for connection and celebration, as families and staff came together for festive gatherings. From crafts and tasty treats to shared meals and visits from Santa, here’s how the HFH community marked the season.

Families at Allie’s Place warmed up with cocoa and crafts at a holiday gathering hosted by RAP4Bronx. They personalized mugs and decorated frames for holiday Polaroids while sipping hot cocoa—a joyful way to come together and spread holiday cheer.

Allie’s Place Early Ed brought the holiday spirit to life with a Christmas lunch for families. They enjoyed a delicious meal, took family photos, and the kids surprised their parents with framed holiday portraits that made the day even more special.

Santa made special stops at Prospect and Allie’s Place with the HFH Summer Camps team. They snapped festive photos with the kids and their families, spreading holiday cheer while building excitement for HFH Summer Camps 2025.

Lufthansa’s help alliance Americas brought the holiday magic to Saratoga Afterschool. The kids explored holiday traditions from around the world—including topping fresh Belgian waffles, decorating gingerbread cookies, and learning about German Christmas markets. They also played musical chairs, snapped Polaroid photos, and created holiday-inspired art.

Saratoga Early Ed turned into a holiday candyland for a special gathering with families. Everyone joined in on the fun, diving into sensory play with fluffy fake snow, warming up with hot cocoa, posing for festive family photos, and creating colorful beaded “candy” jewelry and holiday-themed art.

This Thanksgiving, families across HFH Family Residences came together to share meals, create festive crafts, and celebrate their cultures and traditions. Here’s a look at how they celebrated!

The Culinary Team at Allie’s Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment made a carefully crafted Thanksgiving feast for the families at Allie’s Place. Residents picked up to-go bags brimming with herb-roasted turkey, buttery garlic green beans, homemade cranberry sauce, freshly baked dinner rolls, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, and mini pumpkin pies.

Students in Allie’s Place Afterschool kicked off their Thanksgiving celebration posing for photos with their inflatable turkey. They then shared a festive dinner with friends, taking time to reflect on what they were most thankful for this year.

Families at Clinton gathered for a Thanksgiving celebration, enjoying a delicious turkey meal together. The day was filled with games, good food, and time to connect with the Clinton community.

Thanksgiving at Saratoga Early Ed brought together creativity and cultural traditions. The kids worked together to create a vibrant turkey centerpiece out of fruit kebabs and gave paper turkeys unique hairstyles at a “Thanksgiving barbershop.” Later, families joined in to decorate wreaths, share music from their cultures, and celebrate diverse Thanksgiving traditions.

At Allie’s Place Early Ed, the kids worked together to create a colorful turkey snack using graham crackers, cheese, and fruit—practicing their “cooking” skills along the way by learning how to safely cut fruit with kid-friendly knives. Parents also joined for a Thanksgiving lunch and family photos.

Families joined the Prospect Afterschool kids for a Thanksgiving event that brought everyone together. They decorated their own placemats and, after enjoying the delicious food, wrapped up the celebration with a lively dance party.

This autumn, HFH Family Residences were alive with seasonal festivities, from Halloween to Día de Los Muertos. Here’s a look at how the HFH community came together to celebrate!

Thanks to a donation from Village Community School and volunteers from the NYPD Community Affairs team, Allie’s Place Family Residence kicked off Halloween with a costume distribution event. Families chose the perfect disguise with the help of volunteers and staff before painting pumpkins, jamming out to bewitching tunes, and enjoying treats from the Culinary Team. Later in the week, they rocked out at a Halloween bash featuring games, crafts, and a costumed Family Services team leading everyone in a Halloween-inspired Electric Slide.

At Allie’s Place Early Ed, the littlest trick-or-treaters donned their best costumes and paraded through the halls, stopping at Administration and Family Services offices to collect sweets and spread the spooky spirit.

In honor of Día de Los Muertos, culinary students at Allie’s Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment whipped up a traditional feast. From Mole Pipián Verde to sweet Calabaza en Tacha, the workshop highlighted dishes that bring families together in celebration of life and remembrance.

Clinton Family Residence hosted a fang-tastic Halloween gathering with a special visit from MLB Store NYC. Families, decked out in costumes, came for pizza, candy, and a gourd-geous line-up of activities, including a classic bean bag toss.

Prospect Early Ed’s little artists dove into pumpkin painting with autumn colors galore! They experimented with mixing colors as they brought their fall masterpieces to life.

Saratoga Afterschool brought down the haunted house with a Halloween performance. The kids took to the stage in their creepiest costumes for choreographed dances that thrilled their friends and family.

Saratoga Early Ed’s Halloween parade and costume party were a scream! After trick-or-treating around the building, families joined the kids for pumpkin painting, witch hat decorating, and ring toss—with Halloween-themed treats to match the spook-tacular celebration.

Williamsbridge Family Residence was transformed into a wicked wonderland courtesy of Knock Knock Give a Sock and Lev Capital. Families enjoyed a lively carnival, complete with cape and mask decorating and slime-making.

Our Early Childhood Education Centers—staffed by Certified Teachers licensed by the NYC Department of Education—recently recognized the achievements of the youngest learners with “Moving Up” ceremonies. These events marked significant milestones for the children and their families and celebrating the growth, learning, and progression to the next phase of their educational journeys. Take a glimpse into the festivities at Prospect, Saratoga, and Allie’s Place Family Residences’ Early Ed.

The families of the kiddos in Prospect Early Ed gathered with flowers and balloons, excited to honor their children’s accomplishments.

“I’m nervous about him going up to kindergarten … there will be new teachers … new friends,” one mom shared about her son.

The kids performed a song, and families enjoyed a slideshow showcasing the year’s learning highlights. The kids loved seeing themselves, and parents were amazed at how much their children had grown since the start of the school year. Sand buckets with fun toys for the kids to enjoy during the summer—including toys for outside and a graduation teddy bear—were distributed to close out the event.

“I am proud of our 3-K group, I am also very proud of our pre-K group because they are getting ready to go to kindergarten and our 3-K are moving up to pre-K,” said Rafaela Bruno, Director of Early Childhood Education at Prospect. “We are very proud of the progress they have made this year. I just want to say thank you to the parents—this would be impossible without your help. Thank you very much to our staff that we have here at HFH—this would be impossible without you as well.”

The celebration at Saratoga Early Ed was filled with excitement as the children moved up to kindergarten and pre-K. The students performed two songs before being called up to receive their certificates. Families captured the moment with photos and enjoyed refreshments, and the little graduates each received a goodie bag containing crayons and coloring books. The occasion concluded with a spirited dance party.

At Allie’s Place Early Ed, the moving up ceremony commemorated the young learners as they take their next big step. The kids performed the song I’m Ready to Go, recited the poem I’m a Little Graduate, and gathered for a family-style lunch. The gathering wrapped up with the distribution of certificates and gifts, including new backpacks and school supplies to prepare the students for their educational paths ahead.

For information on enrolling your child in one of our Early Childhood Education Centers for fall 2024, visit https://www.hfhnyc.org/programs/education/.

This year, HFH family residences celebrated Mother’s Day by showering moms with homemade cards, delicious lunches, and creative crafts to thank them for all the wonderful things they do!

Mothers at Clinton Family Residence were welcomed by the afterschool and family services staff for a Mother’s Day event. Kids played and colored while the moms chatted and created vision boards over pizza; the afterschool team took the opportunity to share about the Afterschool & Recreation program that will be opening shortly. When asked what her favorite part about the event was, one mother, Neidy, said it was “bonding with the other mothers.”

Allie’s Place Early Ed hosted a special Mother’s Day lunch to honor all of the amazing moms. The kids were excited to present handmade cards and mugs to show their appreciation. Afterschool & Rec invited Allie’s Place moms for sweet treats and provided card making supplies for the kids to write heartfelt notes.

Allie’s Place Center for Culinary Education & Employment held a Mothers’ Day luncheon. Moms from Allie’s Place and other HFH family residences were invited to enjoy a multi-course meal prepared and served by graduates of the Culinary program—not only providing an invaluable opportunity for students to showcase their newly acquired culinary skills in a food industry setting but also offering the moms a well-deserved moment of pampering and appreciation.

Trinity Baptist Church treated the moms at Williamsbridge to a delicious meal from Bedstuy Fish Fry and distributed donations of essential toiletries including lotion, body wash, soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. The gathering was bittersweet as some of the families would soon be moving out of shelter.

Prospect Afterschool crafted Mother’s Day cards with a twist—3D paper bouquets!—and wrote notes to express their gratitude to their moms.

Spring is in full swing and HFH Early Ed is staying active and sprouting young minds. Take a sneak peek at how our youngest learners are blossoming—from morning movement to hands-on learning about our earth’s ecosystem.

Prospect Early Ed has been kickstarting their mornings with energizing morning movement. The little ones stretch and dance to get their bodies moving and set the tone for a day of learning.

They have also been loving their free time at sensory stations! The kids have been fostering cognitive development and building fine motor skills exploring the elements at the water table and molding masterpieces with Play-Doh.

Saratoga Early Ed has been springing into action outdoors! The kiddos are soaking up the spring sunshine and exploring the blooming nature during their free time on the playground.

They recently dug into Earth Day with a hands-on activity—they made delicious ‘dirt’ cups using crushed Oreos, chocolate pudding, and gummy worms. The class talked about the interconnectedness of nature and the importance of preserving the earth’s ecosystem!

Allie’s Place Early Ed has been mastering the art of Tai Chi with NY Enrichment Group. The weekly classes are a great way to stay active while promoting lifelong health and wellness habits through building strength, balance, and focus.

The young book worms have also been enjoying independent reading time, which they have dubbed “book buddies.” The kids are exploring their favorite stories while fostering a love for reading.

The Early Childhood Education Centers across HFH shelters have been expanding their wisdom of wardrobes during a recent Clothing Study—part of NYC Public Schools Early Childhood Education Creative Curriculum.

“Our goal is to find out what the students already know about clothes and expand their knowledge based on their curiosity,” said Rafaela Bruno, Director of Early Childhood Education at Prospect Family Residence. “From an early age, children are curious about clothes. As infants they used their five senses to understand this thing their parents put on them every day since birth. Now, as 3K and Pre-K students, they are exploring language and developing their phonological awareness skills.”

The little learners made connections between the clothes they wore every day and the changing weather outside. They also had the opportunity to share about the cultural clothes from their countries. Each week, students explored questions relating to clothing, including “Why do people wear clothes?” and “What types of different clothes are there?” and practiced identifying clothing worn in different professions.

“Mira es por el fuego! (Look! It’s for the fire),” one student at Prospect said to identify a firefighter’s uniform.

“A police for the people,” another student said about the police uniform.

In addition to their discussions, the kids engaged in various hands-on activities, from washing clothes at the water table and hanging clothes on the clothesline in the dramatic play area to “sewing” mittens and creating clothing out of different materials to dress outlines of themselves. They added a playful touch by building a play washing machine out of a cardboard box to incorporate into the dramatic play area—with a coin slot, opening door, and all!

This study not only provided a fun way for the kids to learn about clothes but also nurtured creativity through imaginative play, helped them develop essential language skills, and taught them practical task skills.