Salvation Army Door of Hope

(This review is about a year late… sorry =p)
Volunteer today!
Thank you for all you do Door of Hope. Because of you, homeless women and children have the ability to re-​build to their lives and start anew at the haven you provide for them. Their program offers transitional structured group housing, food and onsite education for parenting teens and their children that had to turn to this organization due to unfortunate circumstances. I was told that many of the young girls that reside here often are victims of rape, abuse or incest when they are referred by the courts or foster care. Very sad…
According to their website, with career counseling, the women focus on finding a job, learn to budget and save 80% of their income. A six-​month follow-​up study shows that 92% of the center’s graduates are still in permanent housing, a figure 31% higher than the US Department of Housing And Urban Development’s expected standard. Impressive, huh?
How did I learn of the Door of Hope? I got a call from my good friend James who also happens to be a Makeup Artist as well. He was recruited by his friend, Antonella Annibale (and M.A. to the stars, I might add), and asked if I also wanted to volunteer my time/​service for some teens that were asked to attend prom but had no means of getting their hair/​makeup done for the event. Of course I said yes without hesitation. Amongst us group of volunteers were also two hairstylists that did beautiful updos on the girls. Dresses were donated by kind individuals as well as photography and transportation services for this event.
Getting to know these girls was such a wonderful experience. They had been through so much in their young lives, yet were so determined to make a better future for themselves and their children… even though they were virtually children themselves. When we finished the transformations, it was the best feeling hearing the squeals of delight at how pretty they looked and how they would knock everyone dead at the prom. A few weeks later, I received a thank you card signed by all the girls. So sweet.
These girls were amazing to work with and I look forward to volunteering my time when they need me again. I think my participation did more for me then it did for them in all honesty. Again, big thanks to Door of Hope and a shout out to my Glam Squad Peeps – Antonella, James, Gina and the rest of you lovelies. See you at the next event :)