Families Forward Community Connections - Fall 2016
You Can Help Local Families Celebrate The Holidays!
Thanks to all of your community support, Thanksgiving preparations and our Adopt-a-Families program are in full swing!  Families Forward is still in need of support for both holiday programs. 
 
 
There is still time to help provide Thanksgiving meals to over 900 local families. We are currently collecting Thanksgiving food items and could use your help to collect enough food to serve all the families seeking assistance this holiday season. Sign up to help a family this Thanksgiving by:

Help make the holidays a little brighter for over 800 local families through our Adopt-A-Family program.  Families Forward has a goal of serving 850 families through this year. Sign up to help a family by: 
  • Adopting a family for the holidays
  • Donating gift cards to support families during the holidays and throughout the year
  • Host a toy drive and fill additional gift bags for children.  Click here for a list of gift items most commonly given out through this program. Please note that teens are our most under-served population, teen gifts are especially needed. 
If you have any questions about Thanksgiving or Adopt-a-Family please call (949) 379-8325. 

Your Support Changes Lives
On September 30th, Families Forward completed our fiscal year and we are proud to share the impact you and our community has made on local families in need.

More than 9,000 low income or homeless individuals were served throughout the year thanks to your continued support!

Please click here to learn more about how your support changed lives last year.  

Holiday Shopping with a Purpose
With the holidays fast approaching, Amazon makes it easy to give back while you shop!  Visit Amazon via Smile.Amazon.com and select "Families Forward - Irvine, CA" as your organization. Shop as you normally would and 0.5% of your purchase will go back to Families Forward! Your support will help end homelessness and hunger in Orange County.

There are plenty of other ways to give back to Families Forward when you shop. Take a look at this list for other opportunities!

Learn More About Our Programs
During Families Forward's last fiscal year we served 160 families (585 children and their parents) through our Housing Program. Here at Families Forward we offer different housing options to help each family find the most sustainable and impactful path out of homelessness.  Below is a video explaining one of our most utilized housing options for families, Rapid Re-Housing.

What is Rapid Re-Housing?
What is Rapid Re-Housing?

To learn more about Families Forward's Housing Program, please visit our website.
A Father's Love
As a single father to a seven year old boy, Josh struggled enormously with his daily commitments. He and his son were also suffering from his son's mother leaving them for a life of drugs. When he came into our Housing Program, they were living in his car. Working with Families Forward, he was able to secure a studio apartment but...

Read more about Josh's incredible journey here.
Families Forward Has Three New Board Members
Please join us in welcoming our newest board members! Kfir Ben-Zvi, PIMCO, Meg English, Community Leader, and David Vento, Allergan,  have joined Families Forward's Board of Directors and bring with them a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm to help our shared community. 

To learn more about these dedicated individuals, click here, and to see our full board list, visit our website.
The Community Giving Back
For the second year, Families Forward has been selected by 95.9 The Fish to be their charity of choice for food drives throughout Orange County through November 15th. The Fish Cares Team has partnered with Kimmie's Coffee Cup and will be collecting food for our Thanksgiving Food Drive. The list of dates and locations can be found here. Stop by and show your support this holiday season! If you don't have time to meet up, you can bring food directly to Families Forward during business hours. The families we serve will be so grateful.
How you can help!
Families Forward relies on the support of the community, whether through volunteering, product donations or financial contributions.  

Your commitment to improving the lives of vulnerable families makes the difference.

Families Forward | [email protected] | (949) 552-2727
www.families-forward.org
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