In 2005, a small class of young kids came to a stark, simple realization: “If there are homeless kids who need our help, we should do whatever we can to help them.” It’s hard to argue with that logic. This simple view of the world – and their place in it – made it possible for them to face the reality of child homelessness fearlessly. Their first fundraiser brought in $5,000. Their second raised $40,000. They either didn’t know, or didn’t care, that kids aren’t supposed to be able to do that.
When you take on something as ambitious as ending child homelessness, your mission should be crystal clear, and your approach better be fearless.
Having seen the efforts and effect a handful of kids could have first hand, HALO’s founders saw an opportunity to create an organization that would believe in its mission, and its ability to fulfill that mission, fearlessly.
Now, HALO gives homeless kids a home in which hope emerges from hardship, poverty gives way to potential, and where drawings of the past unlock dreams of the future.
We work wherever kids who have been abused, abandoned, and orphaned, need the kind of love and support other kids get from living with their family.
Kids are the greatest cause.
We partner with shelters and programs to stretch their services and fill the gaps between existing agencies. In other words, through a mixture of heart and hustle, we find a way to meet every need – even the ones that other organizations can’t, or won’t.
Our programs include housing for hundreds of homeless youth in 11 International Orphanages and Two Domestic Shelters, education in Learning Centers that offer a variety of future-focused programming, from simple life skills, to help with school to scholarship funds, and healing through a mix of therapeutic art and medical and mental support.
When kids rediscover their value and embrace their potential, it puts them on a path to becoming contributing members of their community, ultimately saving over $300,000 in potential welfare and incarceration costs.
At our core is a small team charged with keeping the vision clear, the gears turning, and the fire burning. They embody the deep compassion and relentless determination that has come to define HALO as an organization, and made us a force to be reckoned with in the fight against child homelessness.
HALO Team
TERRANCE SMITH
Jefferson City Boys Program Facilitator
International
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Harriet Adongpiny
Uganda Liaison -
Alice Kiiza Namagembe
Uganda Finance Assistant -
Rodolfo Fuentes Valdez
Mexico Liaison -
Raja Sekher
India Liaison -
Matthew Orcutt
Founder of Simama Project & HALO Kenya Liaison
HALO Board of Directors
- Eddie Welsh, President, COO at Capital Materials
- Kelli Jones, Treasurer, Senior Advisor, CPA and Certified Financial Planner at Moneta Group LLC.
- Gregory Lam, Managing Partner at Copilevitz, Lam & Raney, PC
- Leandra Hulett, Group Vice President at Target
- Vanessa Connell, CPA and Community Activist
- Suzanne Alewine, CEO & Principal Partner at Community Asset Builders
HALO KC Advocate Board
Amy Munce, Annie Anderson, Becky Krueger, Cheryl Bicknell, Courtney Filing, Dorothy Duffy, Erin Duba, Holly Mihalovich, Jamie Martin, Jen Grammer, Jennifer Call, Jill Jackoboise, Jody Albers, Julie Welsh, Kara Hoolehan, Katrina Radenberg, Lori Lewellen, Mara Hodes, Maureen Weibe, Melissa Batz, Sally Sallee, Sarah Dodge, Shannon Haverty-Thrun, Susie Wollard, Tatia Batz, Teresa Olsen, Teri Scanlon, Vanessa Connell