I am excitedly writing you this letter to tell you about the unbelievably generous donation from Sandy Becker, owner of Noah’s Ark Consignment in Littleton, to the House of Hope in Lowell (www.hopelowell.org).

Words cannot express just how wonderful of a person she is for her kindness and contribution to the House of Hope organization.

House of Hope is a shelter for families that have been dealing with homelessness while trying to raise their children. I am a proud member of their board of directors and we work very closely with the staff and residents to improve their situations and get them into stabilized housing and therefore safer and more productive environments. These families have suffered many traumas and hardships and are often at wits end when they reach our shelter. It is our goal to help them get back on their feet, become educated and employed members of society so that they are able to provide for their children and families for years to come.

Recently, the House of Hope launched a program called The Hope Chest (www.hopelowell.org/hopechest). The Hope Chest is a small retail shop, located on Market Street, in Lowell. This program allows our shelter residents to be trained in the retail environment and learn skills associated with the workforce while providing an excellent, affordable shopping opportunity to the local community and its residents.

Our shop has only been open a few weeks on a very limited basis but has proven to be an incredible opportunity for our shelter residents to learn about the retail industry, from sorting and organizing donations, stocking and keeping inventory, customer service and store front service, and responsibility for being employed. Our resident staff at our shop is proud to show up to work and be part of something that can help them better their future.

A few days ago, I was in Noah’s Ark in Littleton shopping with my small children and I got into a conversation with Sandy Becker about consignment and donations. Well, I am beyond thrilled to say that Sandy provided us with more than two carloads of donated items from her shop to assist the families in the shelter and at the Hope Chest. These donations, such as clothes, layettes, toys, puzzles, books, portable baby cribs, diaper bags, shoes, sneakers, jackets, boots, etc. will give families who often show up at our shelter with nothing something of their own.

The hardest thing, I think, about seeing children in shelter is that they often don’t have their own belongings or toys. By providing us with this most generous donation, Sandy has made sure that every child that enters our shelter program will have clean clothes, toys that they can play with and most importantly, a sense of security that they have something to call their own.

I am just overjoyed and humbled by the incredible gift of donations that the team at Noah’s Ark has provided to our residents. We are truly grateful to have met such a giving and community focused person in Sandy Becker.

JILL ADAMY

House of Hope Secretary

To read the original article, please click here.

“Noah’s Ark Consignment has proven to be an invaluable resource for us and we are so blessed by their generous donations. Community involvement is so necessary to help us with our programs and families here at the House of Hope,” commented Deb Chausse, Executive Director of the House of Hope.

Since we have recently opened up our Hope Chest community shop, donations are critical to our success and Noah’s Ark has really gone above and beyond with their generosity. The Hope Chest will benefit from this donation because we will be able to consign and sell some of these items to our local neighborhood at affordable prices. And what’s more, our clients that work at the Hope Chest are learning the valuable retail market, from organizing and sorting, to customer service and retail skills. It provides our residents a place to work, learn a skill and manage their own money with what they earn at our shop. It’s a winning trifecta!

If you are interested in donating some gently used children’s items (clothing, shoes, toys, games, books, hats, gloves, snow suits, dresses, etc.) please contact us at 978-458-2870 . We warmly welcome and appreciate community involvement in our organization.

The Hope Chest – Indeed it is

The Hope Chest will support families struggling with the high cost of children’s clothing by providing affordable gently used clothing to former House of Hope families, the Acre neighborhood and the community at large.

The Hope Chest will also serve as a vehicle of care for those in the community who wish to donate seasonal, gently used clothing to those in need.  These donations will help homeless women learn valuable employment skills, provide appropriate clothing for primarily poorer children and support mother earth by reducing waste.

The Hope Chest also provides our residents with job training in the retail industry on an internship level so that they can gain the experience, confidence and success needed to gain employment in today’s market. Our workforce development effort serves homeless families in Lowell, MA.

Please visit our shop soon!

Our event was graciously covered by the Lowell Sun:

City Woman Accepts “Courageous Mother” Award

It’s a Home Worth Fighting For

Thank you to the following sponsors for their outstanding support of the 25th Harvest of Hope Benefit:

New Home Sponsors:
ARAMARK
Boyle Transportation
Enterprise Bank
J.B.M. General Contractors, Inc.
Maureen & Arnold Lerner
University of Massachusetts Lowell
Jaqueline & Edward Moloney

Foundation Sponsors:
Deb Chausse
Nancy Donahue
Diane & Dave Earl
Louise Griffin
Heritage Properties
James L. Cooney Inurance-Real Estate
Kronos
George & Donna Leahey
William & Deborah Lemos
Lowell General Hospital
Omni Digital Printers
Pearson Financial Group
The Sun
Sykes the Florist
Thibault Foundation
Trinity EMS, Inc.
VIVA Consulting

We hope you can join us!

“…2010 started as a year they hoped to forget.”

‘Thanks for the kindness’