Homeless Children's Trust

What is the Homeless Children’s Trust?

The Homeless Children’s Trust is a non-profit, all-volunteer program that is sponsored by HACAP. This program is dedicated to assisting children whose families are homeless and/or currently living in transitional housing by providing funds for emergency needs such as:

• Temporary Emergency Child Care
• Emergency Health Care
• Essential Equipment
• Protective Clothing
• Shoe and Boot Fund

These funds are to be utilized only when other sources of funding are not readily available within the community and are intended to be a bridge to other funding.

Historically, the Homeless Children’s Trust has held “Back to School” drives to equip children with backpacks, school supplies and necessities that will help them succeed in school.

For many years, the program’s primary annual event has been the Community Christmas Event. This event is held each year in both Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Over 100 volunteers work to hold a Christmas party for children and their families, while parents are allowed to choose gifts for their children provided by funds from the Trust. The party includes a healthy breakfast and lunch that is interspersed with activities coordinated by several volunteer organizations in the community (i.e. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Police, Kernels, RoughRiders) and culminates with a visit with Santa. Additional volunteers coordinate the gift-giving, provide transportation for the parents and also act as companion shoppers for parents to assist them with the choice of presents as necessary.

In the near future, The Homeless Children’s Trust has plans to expand its activities outside of Linn and Johnson County to include Jones, Benton, Iowa and Washington Counties.

How can you help?

Assistance from the community (both individuals and groups) in the form of volunteers and fund-raising efforts is continually needed to continue the efforts or the Homeless Children’s Trust. The program would like to continue to provide children with the basic items needed to have as normal of a life as possible in times of hardship. Unfortunately, these items must often be neglected to obtain other necessities, and it is the goal of the Homeless Children’s Trust to meet these ever growing needs. The number of children eligible to receive from the Homeless Children’s Trust continues to increase each year. Your support is sincerely appreciated.

For more information on the Homeless Children’s Trust, call Deb Oliver at (800) 391-1562. Donations can be mailed to the Homeless Children’s Trust, P.O. Box 490, Hiawatha, IA 52233. Jackie Schropp, HACAP’s Employee Liaison for the Homeless Children’s Trust, can be reached at (319) 393-7811.

“Our Children, Our Community”

No salaries or indirect expenses are taken from the donations. 100% the fund is used to assist homeless children by providing funds for emergency childcare, health care, protective clothing and educational supplies or for coordinating the events. The Trust is entirely dependent upon community donations.

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