BB&T Bethesda employees volunteered for a day at Hearts & Homes for Youth’s Jumpstart Group Home. The volunteers repainted the front and back porches, and added mulch, removed weeds and planted a beautiful row of flowers in the yard.

“BB&T is extremely proud to support Hearts & Homes for Youth again this year through our annual Lighthouse Project,” said Thomas Ransom, BB&T Market President and Hearts & Homes Board Chair. “The organization’s mission of empowering our young population by providing them with a homelike environment, supportive services, and social, recreational, health and fitness, arts and learning activities should be applauded. Their mission to foster respect, independence and personal growth for each individual is vital to the community. We’re proud to team up with them and help in any way we can.”

Chloe Perez, Hearts & Homes for Youth CEO and President said the improvements were greatly appreciated.

“This is a big project  that requires a lot of supplies and time,” she said. “It is invaluable to have a group of volunteers help us spruce up the residence, so we that we can continue to be a warm and homelike environment for the youth in our care.”

Valerie Snogren, the agency’s Chief of Staff, agreed. “It’s a big help for us. The house looks refreshed and the porch is beautiful,” she said.

Caitlin Ward, the agency’s Director of Community Relations said she appreciated the new look. “I think the result of their efforts is incredible and will have an impact on the kids because they will understand that the volunteers were here to support them and make their home beautiful.”

BB&T Market President Thomas Ransom has led BB&T Lighthouse efforts with Hearts & Homes for Youth for a number of years. For example, last year, BB&T hosted a Summer Bash and Barbecue for youth from all of the Hearts & Homes for Youth programs at a park in Montgomery County. In addition to great lunch and games, BB&T provided the youth with sports equipment and school supplies.  In previous years, BB&T Lighthouse Project has also come to our Harriet Tubman Emergency Shelter and Helen Smith Group Home for Girls to paint the homes, spruce up the yard, and donate household items.

“BB&T is always glad to support great organizations like Hearts & Homes for Youth” he said. “It feels good to be out in the community making a difference.”

For the past five months, our incredible volunteers from Coakley Williams Construction, Fort Meade, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and UPS in Burtonsville have helped us renovate our Kemp Mill Group Home in Silver Spring. The project began in the fall when Coakley Williams came and remodeled our kitchen, including new appliances and a fresh paint job. The difference is incredible! Weeks later, Coakley Williams came again and helped us collect branches, sticks, and leaves in the front and back yard and brought new shrubs and flowers to plant.

For the following few months, we spent countless weekends with our friends from Fort Meade, ripping up the old carpet, removing nails and staples from the floor, and then sanding, staining, and finishing the floor. This involved moving a lot of furniture!

Our volunteers from Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and UPS in Burtonsville teamed up with our volunteers from Fort Meade and helped us repaint the interior. Every space in the house has a fresh coat of paint and all together, the house looks completely transformed! It was a large undertaking and the results speak for themselves. Thank you so much to all of the volunteers who came together and made this possible!

We are also grateful to Bob’s Furniture for the beautiful new furniture they donated to us last summer and to one of our supporters for the stunning new curtains!

The Junior Women’s Club of Chevy Chase (JWCCC) has had an incredible impact on the girls in our care at Helen Smith Group Home! In particular, Hearts & Homes for Youth would like to recognize one of the JWCCC members who has been tutoring one of youth for Algebra 2 and helped her raise her grade from a D to a B in a week!

The tutoring sessions are one of many ways the JWCCC has engaged with our girls at Helen Smith. Through their GEMS mentoring program, the JWCCC has been extraordinarily dedicated to the personal well-being and development of the girls at the Home. The JWCCC spends time with our girls once a month, each time hosting a different activity and teaching a different lesson. In February, the JWCCC taught the girls how to make jewelry. In previous visits, JWCCC has also baked with the girls and done other arts and crafts projects.

On March 16, the Junior Women’s Club of Chevy Chase will be hosting a self-defense class for our young ladies at Helen Smith Group Home for Girls. The goal is to teach the girls about self awareness and personal safety.

Hearts & Homes Helen Smith Group Home has been part of JWCCC’s GEMS program for a number of a number of years and the women continue to have a positive influence on the work that we do and the lives of the girls in our care.

This week we are getting together with our friends from UPS in Burtonsville and our friends from Fort Meade, to repaint our Mary’s Mount Therapeutic Group Home for Girls in Harwood, MD. We are grateful for their support and excited to beautify the home! We are also grateful to Home Depot in Bowie for donating paint supplies for the project!

We are grateful to many companies, organizations, and individuals who have helped us transform our group homes and program facilities over the past year. We are grateful to our friends at Sherwin Williams for giving us great prices for great paint! We are grateful to Bob’s Furniture for the incredible donation of 98 pieces of new, top quality beds, dressers, couches, and dining room sets that have transformed our homes. We are grateful to Coakley Williams Construction and their team – IBS Millwork, Capital City Flooring, American Capital Contracting, Appliance Distributors Unlimited, Potomac Mechanical Services, Phoenix Electric Technologies and Ruppert Landscape – for the extreme makeover of the kitchen and yard at our Kemp Mill Group Home. We are grateful to the Swan Corporation and Ferguson Enterprises for donating new shower panels to our John C. Tracey Group Home for Boys, which was recently renovated by Metropolitan Industries, Inc.

We are also grateful to our friends from Fort Meade who have been volunteering with us since we met last spring, helping us beauty our homes and helping our kids feel special. We would especially like to thank Sudeep Behera (Civilian), Leslie Boulden (USMC), Roshunda Brooks (USMC), David Ceja (USMC), Christopher Chan (USMC) Malcolm Curtis (Air Force), Nicholas Depriest (USMC), Katherine Emert (USMC), Aisling Feaser (USMC), Zachary Foster (USMC), Matthew Freeze (USMC), Audrey Goulenko (USMC), David Hall (Air Force), Richard Hopkins (Air Force), Brian Hylander (USMC), David Jenks (USMC), Amanda Jenks (USMC), Shuandrina Jones (USMC), Sean Lawrence (USMC), Matthew Leahy (USMC), Matthew Lookfong (USMC), Eric Lorenze (USMC), Courtney Lorenze (USMC), Christi Madrid (USMC), Malana Maher (Army), Samuel McCoy (USMC), Benjamin Moreland (USMC), Jefferey Mueller (USMC), Megan Niemer (USMC), Jameson Parr (USMC), Daniel Patterson (USMC), Helena Perez (Civilian), Joseph Quinn (USMC), Derek Regan (USMC), Jennifer Ridley (USMC), David Robeck (Civlian), Davey Rogner (Civilian) Adrian Rosales (USMC), Aquiles Ruiz (USMC), Stefan Sakowkski (USMC), John Steward (USMC), Paul Ward (Army), Larry Williamson (USMC), and Ashley Williamson (Civilian).

These individuals, who are currently stationed at Fort Meade, have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to the community and have delivered a powerful message through  their volunteerism and service that encourages others to take action. These service members have embraced our organization and mission, repainted our group homes and apartments, volunteered with our staff at the Laurel Boys and Girls Club, helped at the Kings of Style Party and Princess Party, and helped at the scholarship ceremony luncheon. We are grateful for their exceptional work ethic, positive energy, leadership, and dedication to the community and we are humbled that in addition to serving our country, they have devoted his time to serving our community and specifically the youth in our care.

We are elated to be partnered and building relationships with all of these amazing companies and individuals that are working to make a difference in the community! One person can change a life, together we are changing homes.