Housewarming 2019: The Impact of Community

Housewarming 2019: The Impact of Community

“Building strong relationships and making connections are at the epicenter of future independence. Our work is more than housing alone.”
Danielle Ferrier, Chief Executive Officer, Heading Home

Heading Home is delighted to share that our annual Housewarming event raised a record-breaking $1,411,122. Now a major Boston fundraising event, this year’s Housewarming event gathered nearly 1,000 community leaders at The Castle in Back Bay on Tuesday, April 30th to network, sample outstanding food, and raise funds for Heading Home’s important work.

Heading Home is Boston’s leading provider of support services for individuals and families with children and a champion of innovative solutions that move people out of homelessness. Last year, Heading Home directly served nearly 1,400 people, emphasizing permanent housing with wraparound services as the best model for disrupting the cycle of homelessness.

Event Co-Chairs Leslie Cohen of Samuels & Associates and Travis D’Amato of Walker & Dunlop were instrumental in achieving this unprecedented fundraising success. As Culinary Chairs, Nancy Cushman of o ya and Hojoko, and Karen Akunowicz of Fox & the Knife recruited 21 of the area’s premier restaurants to provide savory, dessert, and libation samplings for guests.

Inspired by the work of Heading Home, Cohen says “The statistics are what drew me to be part of the event and take a leadership role in ending homelessness here in our beloved city.” She later added how inspired she has been by the tremendous amount of focus, resiliency, and strength it takes to move through and ultimately out of homelessness.

D’Amato, who also serves on Heading Home’s Board of Directors, focused on the importance of community and the benefits of support networks. He congratulated the Heading Home staff for their unwavering commitment to creating a community that helps clients build trust, feel supported, and set goals. “Heading Home works tirelessly to create positive connections  by bringing together volunteers, donors, talented and diverse staff, partners, and other clients.”

Cohen spoke about the success many in the room have benefited from during the current economic boom. As she pointed out, “Many of our neighbors are struggling. Thank you for joining me in helping to alleviate the barriers and divide between those of us who have opportunities and resources and those of us who do not.”

Heading Home’s Chief Executive Officer, Danielle Ferrier, reinforced these community themes by adding “ The relationships that our clients create can become the difference between staying housed or not.  Housing and community are not luxury items.  For many, that is the case. We are creating a community where clients – and really at all levels of the organization- are invested in each other’s success.”