Sheltering Arms’ Gift Registry
Our 4th Global Gift Registry launched on August 16, 2020 to support Sheltering Arms Early Education & Family Centers in Atlanta, Georgia. Please click HERE to purchase a gift that will immediately help these families and their children. In total, we raised nearly $25,000 in in-kind donations to support the 3500+ families that Sheltering Arms serves each year.
Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers was founded in 1888 in Atlanta, Georgia by a sewing circle of women determined to help low-income and working mothers care for their children. 132 years later, Sheltering Arms is now one of Georgia’s largest providers of the Head Start early education program for families living in poverty. They serve 3500 children annually from ages 6-weeks to 5 years old in 13 locations throughout metro Atlanta. Sheltering Arms embraces children instilling them with a lifetime of curiosity while making sure they are ready for the rigor of school and kindergarten. They also recognize that caring for children impacted by poverty is about supporting their families and surrounding communities. This is why in addition to model early childhood education, Sheltering Arms proactively provides social services to families through GED courses, job search and housing assistance. Sheltering Arms’ work is transformational for the entire family unit.
Meet Mika: Mika is a single parent. Her son attends one of Sheltering Arms’ early education centers. Mika was recently furloughed from her waitressing job. She is currently a student and relies heavily on tips to buy essential items such as pull-ups and clothing. Her son’s father has helped to fill some of the gaps, but everyone is stretched financially thin right now. She admitted that a major stress is buying big ticket items such as a much-needed car seat as her son was approaching the weight limit on his almost year-old car seat.
How did the Global Gift Registry help Mika? Sheltering Arms gave Mika a brand new weight appropriate car seat, clothing, a stash of pull ups, wipes and books. Mika was so grateful. She cried (and so did we) as she admitted the heavy weight of the past few months. Mika says that new clothes and toys are considered luxuries compared to the pressure of needing a new car seat to keep her son safe. The thought of instantly having both was very emotional–“You guys have no idea how much this means to our family. It even brings a little more peace between me and dad. The pressure has been so strong for so long that it’s hard to explain. Thank you so much for even asking how we’re really doing. I’m so touched by this.”
Mika’s story touched our hearts. She’s a working mom doing the best she can, yet every month, she doesn’t have enough. She is not alone. Thousands of parents have the same experience. Your gifts of diapers, baby carriers, school supplies and food are not small. This is not insignificant. This is the work of community activists. This is the “light” that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks of which will drive out “darkness.” These donations are the answer to his urgent question to humanity, “What are you doing for others?”
It takes a village. Multiplying the injustices many poor people were already facing, Covid-19 leaves millions of families unemployed with increased shelter and food insecurity and now the added concern of how to safely send kids to school. Sheltering Arms has continued to provide increased services to children and families during the pandemic but supplies are running low and funding is at risk with our spiraling economy. These communities need our help now; 90% of their families live in poverty. The Global Gift Registry will help Sheltering Arms secure basic necessities such as learning tools, food, baby products, personal care items, cleaning supplies, books, gift cards and so much more. Created during the Covid-19 crisis, the Global Gift Registry’s online platform organizes a giving drive that feels very much like a “virtual baby shower.” This initiative allows us to collectively support those in need even as we socially distance in these uncertain times.
How you can help? Please join us in showering Sheltering Arms with gifts of love and support by purchasing a gift. The cost for items begins at less than $1.00. We intentionally list all price points so everyone can participate. Each gift goes directly to someone in need. Click HERE to support Sheltering Arms and the families they serve!