SPRING 2026
FAMILY VICTORIES FROM YOUTH VILLAGES
• MORE THAN A BACKPACK: HELPING STUDENTS GET READY FOR SCHOOL ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: EMPOWERING FUTURES
LIFESET™ YOUNG ADULTS AT JOB PREP GRADUATION
• YOUTH VILLAGES CELEBRATES 40 YEARS OF SERVICE
UPDATE
FROM YOUTH VILLAGES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Hello Friends,
It’s surreal to say, but 2026 marks my 25th year at Youth Villages and the organization’s 40th anniversary. This spring has given me a chance to reflect on what these milestones mean. What I know for certain is my belief in our mission remains as strong as ever, shaped by years of witnessing our continued impact and growth along the way. The world looks very different than it did 25 years ago. Young people are now navigating a mental health crisis, rapid advances in technology and rising costs that place new pressures on families. I am deeply proud to lead an organization that continues to adapt and innovate to meet these evolving needs, while staying unwavering in our commitment to children, young adults and families.
I saw this dedication clearly last fall, when demand for our Backpack Heroes campaign surged. We served 66% more youth than the year before, ensuring students began the school year with a brand-new backpack, the right supplies and the knowledge that they are supported. Our need for Backpack Heroes is quickly approaching, please learn more about how you can get involved on the next page.
I am grateful for the community that makes this work possible and excited for the meaningful change we will continue to create — this year and for many years to come.
With appreciation,
Matt Stone EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
YOUTH VILLAGES NEW ENGLAND matthew.stone@youthvillages.org 978-349-8580
New England Advisory Board
Amanda Eisel, Chair
Hilina Ajakaiye
Peter Campanella
Ryan Hayden
Clarence Hinton
Kristine Laping
Fran Lawler
Pamela Giasson Lynch
Gregg Mastoras
Aimee Russell
Malisa Schuyler
Marc Sorel
Heather Valteris
Pramila R. Yadav, M.D.
Youth Villages is a national leader in mental and behavioral health committed to finding the most effective solutions to help children, families and young adults overcome obstacles and live successfully. Working through direct services, partnerships, with innovative public agencies and advocacy, we collaborate to bring positive change to child welfare, children’s mental health and justice systems. Last fiscal year, our 5,000 employees served more than 47,000 children and young adults in more than 120 locations in 29 states and the District of Columbia. Youth Villages has been recognized by the Harvard Business School and U.S. News & World Report and was identified by The White House as one of the nation’s most promising results-oriented nonprofit organizations.
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MORE THAN A BACKPACK
THROUGH BACKPACK HEROES, YOUTH START SCHOOL FEELING SEEN, PREPARED AND CONFIDENT BECAUSE THE RIGHT SUPPLIES CAN SPARK PRIDE, POSSIBILITY AND HOPE.
Imagine a backpack filled with more than notebooks and pencils. A backpack that carries confidence, care and possibility. That’s the spirit of Youth Villages’ Backpack Heroes, one of our most joyful and impactful campaigns of the year.
Every spring, our specialists identify youth in our programs with the greatest need and gather key details, such as grade level and school district. Using this information, our team carefully reviews supply requirements across the regions we serve to curate thoughtful, grade-specific lists, ensuring each backpack is filled with the right tools for success. From daycare through college, youth across New England are supported through Backpack Heroes, because success doesn’t stop with one backpack.
There are many ways to get involved in this effort! Supporters can host a school supply drive, donate needed supplies, shop our Amazon registry, make a monetary gift, create a peer-to-peer fundraising page or volunteer at our hands-on workshop to help pack and organize each backpack.
Backpacks are delivered by Two Men and a Truck to Youth Villages offices across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine — each one carrying not just supplies, but a powerful reminder that someone believes in their success.
We were proud to supply full backpacks to 1,200 youth this past year. That is 1,200 fresh starts, confident smiles and first days of school made brighter.
And the impact doesn’t end there. At the close of the campaign, youth are overwhelmingly grateful! We receive joyful photos of them proudly showing off their brand-new backpacks and school supplies, along with heartfelt thank-you notes written in their own words. We compiled these moments into our “Backpack Heroes Wrapped” video,
showing supporters their powerful impact on the real lives they’ve touched and the confidence they helped pack into every single backpack.
Scan the code to watch our video, “Backpack Heroes Wrapped.”
As Backpack Heroes, we have the power to ensure every student starts the school year with the supplies and confidence they need to thrive. Together, we can make a lasting difference for the youth we serve.
Reach out to Samantha Tyler at samantha.tyler@youthvillages.org to learn how to make a lasting impact on students in need.
Join us in spreading the joy of learning and supporting the next generation. Let’s build a brighter future, one backpack at a time.
Some of the young adults in the Youth Villages LifeSet program who graduated from the Job Prep program this past November.
EMPOWERING FUTURES
THROUGH JOB PREP, YOUNG ADULTS CROSSING THE BRIDGE TO ADULTHOOD GAIN CONFIDENCE, PURPOSE AND A PATH FORWARD.
There was a sense of excitement this November at the Nutter, McClellan and Fish law office in Boston as nine young adults in the Youth Villages LifeSet program prepared to graduate from the Job Prep program.
The eight-week program helps LifeSet participants find and maintain stable employment. Local professionals volunteer their time and expertise as career mentors throughout the program. Through various workshops, participants learn about the job application process, resume writing, interview skills, professional dress and effective networking. These skills are critical for young people who experienced foster care, and who are at higher risk of experiencing incarceration, homelessness and unemployment.
Youth Villages is proud of our Job Prep participants and celebrated their hard work at a special graduation ceremony. Thanks to the generosity of longtime supporter Nutter, the event was hosted in their beautiful space overlooking Boston Harbor, complete with dinner and cake. Four Nutter employees also led a panel, sharing their career journeys and the different paths and challenges young people may encounter.
Our partners at Nutter understand how important it is to support young people as they step into adulthood, reminding them that they are surrounded by a community that believes in their success. Over the years, the firm has generously sponsored Red Kite Nite galas and helped raise critical funds to expand LifeSet, ensuring more young adults across the Commonwealth receive the guidance they need. From creating an unforgettable experience for our Job Prep participants to increasing the reach of our evidence-based work, Nutter continues to invest in young people with lived experience in foster care as they enter adulthood.
Through volunteering as a Job Prep mentor, donating to our LifeSet program or inspiring your network or company to join our mission, you can be a catalyst in the lives of emerging adults in our community.
We hope you will invest in our young people the way they invest in themselves, and help us do what we do best, showing up and supporting them along the way.
If you or your company are interested in getting involved, please email samantha.tyler@youthvillages.org
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
ANNE GIFFORD & THE GIFFORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
HOW ONE FAMILY’S VALUES — AND A FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE WITH YOUTH VILLAGES — SPARKED A COMMITMENT TO WALKING ALONGSIDE YOUNG ADULTS TOWARD INDEPENDENCE
How did your family first become connected to Youth Villages?
Our family is always on the lookout for nonprofit partners doing meaningful, high-impact work. Several years ago, we were seeking organizations that aligned with our family foundation’s mission: a fundamental belief in the importance of hope and a desire to invest in people in ways that provide opportunity for them to reach their full potential. Our philanthropic team at Bank of America introduced us to Youth Villages, and it immediately felt like a perfect fit.
What inspired your family foundation to support our mission?
We were deeply disturbed to learn that nationally, more than 15,000 young people exited foster care through emancipation in 2024.* These young adults need comprehensive, consistent support as they transition from state services to independence. With limited resources, they’re asked to overcome the effects of childhood adversity while navigating adulthood. Youth Villages meets this critical moment with compassion, structure and long-term commitment.
Is there a particular aspect of our work, or a program or approach, that resonates most deeply with you or your family?
Youth Villages’ LifeSet program stands out to us. It empowers [young adults who experienced foster care] to take control of their lives, with a trained specialist alongside them, someone who helps them identify goals, build skills and navigate challenges as they move toward independence.
Has there been a moment or story from your connection to Youth Villages that has stayed with you over time?
When we were first learning about Youth Villages, the director of development invited me on a ride along. I traveled to Marlborough to meet with her and Matt Stone, the executive director [for New England], and then accompanied Maura, a LifeSet specialist, to a group home in Grafton. There, we met a 17-year-old young woman who spent much of her life moving from one foster placement to another. Maura met with Isabelle twice a week, and the strength of their bond was immediately evident. Witnessing that relationship built on trust, consistency and genuine care deeply touched me and has stayed with me ever since.
What gives you hope when you think about the youth and families Youth Villages serves?
The outcomes give me tremendous hope. Since 2007, Youth Villages New England has served nearly 17,000 youth, and the impact is truly remarkable. Twelve months post-discharge, 87% are living at home or independently, 91% are in school, have graduated or are employed and 94% have had no further involvement with the law. These results reflect not just success, but lasting change.
What would you say to others who are considering supporting Youth Villages through their own philanthropy?
Go for a visit. The difference between reading about an organization and experiencing its work firsthand is everything. I can confidently say that Youth Villages will find its way into your heart, just as it did mine. For our family, Youth Villages represents hope in action — meeting young people where they are and walking beside them as they build lives filled with possibility.
Chad and Anne Gifford
SMALL START BECOMES BIG IMPACT
Youth Villages celebrates 40 years of service
In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was elected president, the first 24-hour news network (CNN) launched, and the Winter Olympics featured an upstart hockey team that became “The Miracle on Ice.”
In Memphis, Tennessee, another miracle was beginning.
A juvenile court judge sent 24-yearold Patrick Lawler to a struggling residential campus near Memphis with these marching orders: “Fix it or shut it down.”
At the campus, Lawler found a handful of dedicated staff helping about 20 young people. It soon became apparent the children had nowhere else to go if the campus closed.
Donors and volunteers stepped up in support, and in 1986, that small campus grew to become Youth Villages in a merger of two small residential campuses.
Now, 40 years later, Lawler is still at the helm as CEO and Youth Villages is one of the leading children’s mental and behavioral health nonprofits in the United States, lifted by the passion and commitment of staff, volunteers and donors.
Setting the highest standard for residential services needed by children with the most severe needs will
always be a part of Youth Villages’ mission. However, most of the organization’s 5,000 staff members work in community-based programs: Intercept®, intensive in-home services, and in LifeSet, supporting former foster youth as they move to adulthood.
Implementing services that are proven help us achieve high success rates, children who complete their programs at Youth Villages are living successfully at home with their families, enrolled in school or working and not having trouble with the law.
The organization is planning for bolder impact in the future.
“We’re making an incredible impact on the communities we serve through the committed support of our staff, local and national boards, donors and volunteers,” Lawler said. “We’re taking what we learned over the past 40 years and focusing on deepening our services. I’ve never been more excited about what we can do together to heal families and give children and young adults their best chance at long-term success.”
To our donors, volunteers, mentors, foundations and everyone who has supported Youth Villages, we say thank you! As we celebrate this 40th anniversary, we are excited to continue our work to enhance child welfare across the country.
Kauna speaking with Karen Bass, a politician who served as the U.S. Representative for California's 37th congressional district and is currently the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles.
YOUTH VILLAGES OPENS DOOR TO NEW LIFE FOR KAUNA
When Kauna was just 11 months old, she and her mother were caught in gunfire while sitting on a porch. Her mother died. Kauna survived, and her childhood was forever changed.
After her mother’s death, she went to live with an aunt, one of the first homes where she experienced trauma.
Kauna struggled with behavioral challenges that began in elementary school. She was frequently in trouble, throwing objects and facing expulsions that continued into high school. At 12, she entered foster care, where moving between homes, residential programs and detention centers became common.
At 14, Kauna entered Youth Villages’ residential care and was placed at the Rose Center for Girls. After six months, she stepped down to a foster home but continued to need additional support, which led her to the Dogwood campus.
This is where Kauna began to finally feel a connection.
“I got staff to understand me, and they felt like a family,” she said. “They really got to know the real me. When you have people trying to find the root of the problem, that’s when it works.”
Eventually, Kauna went to what would be her final foster home, where she began to thrive. She was excelling in school and thinking seriously about the future.
That’s when she received additional support from LifeSet, a program helping young people on their journey to adulthood.
Kauna first met her LifeSet specialist, Britney Creekmore, at the local mall food court while she was on a work break.
“I sat down, and Kauna immediately started setting ground rules for me,” Creekmore said, laughing.
At the time, Kauna wasn’t sure what she wanted to do next. Together, they wrote down goals — big and small — and got to work.
“From that point on, we’ve been rolling ever since,” Creekmore said. Their relationship went beyond paperwork and goal setting.
Kauna and Britney at Steven Tyler’s Sixth Annual GRAMMY Awards® Viewing Party benefiting Janie’s Fund.
When Kauna didn’t have reliable transportation to school, Creekmore didn’t hesitate.
“I was waking up at 6 a.m. to drop her off,” Creekmore said. “I felt like I was dropping off my own kid. I would say, ‘Have a good day. I’ll see you when you get done.’”
Their bond was built on humor, honesty and a healthy dose of tough love. When Kauna needed an extra push to get her driver’s license, Creekmore jokingly told her it was a new LifeSet requirement.
She dropped Kauna off at the DMV and later received a text to pick her up. When she pulled up, Kauna was sitting outside the office with glossy eyes and a disappointed look.
“I thought, ‘Oh no, she didn’t pass,’” Creekmore said.
Then Kauna laughed and said, “I passed.”
Creekmore helped Kauna stay on track to finish high school and apply to trade schools and colleges. Kauna
set her sights on Gould’s Academy, which offered a salon and spa curriculum for cosmetology, esthetics and manicuring.
“Britney actually helped me put all my thoughts down on paper and write my acceptance letter,” Kauna said.
After many hours of studying, board exams and a final practical skills test, Kauna graduated as a licensed esthetician in the summer of 2022.
Today, she is enrolled in nursing school with ambitions to become an esthetician nurse. She also welcomed her first child, a daughter, in 2023.
And like Creekmore said, Kauna continues to ‘keep on rolling.’
She remains actively involved with the Lived Experience Corps, a group of young adults who have participated in Youth Villages’ programs and been a part of the child welfare, juvenile justice or children’s mental health systems.
The Corps consults with Youth Villages leadership and takes
on specific projects to enhance the way children and young people are helped throughout the organization’s programs and services.
As a Corps member, she’s traveled the country to places like Las Vegas and Washington, D.C., advocating at the state and federal levels for youth aging out of foster care.
In 2022, Kauna was selected to attend Steven Tyler’s annual GRAMMY Awards® Viewing Party benefiting Janie’s Fund, a partnership helping girls who’ve faced abuse and neglect.
“I’m blessed,” Kauna said. “I think about where I would be if I hadn’t entered LifeSet.”
For Creekmore, Kauna holds a special place.
“Working with Kauna has been a great experience,” she said. “She was one of my first cases when I started with LifeSet.”
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONS FOR CHILDREN
JULY 1 – DEC. 31, 2025
INNOVATOR
$ 100,000+
Anonymous (3)
The Klarman Family Foundation
One8 Foundation
VISIONARY
$ 50,000 to $ 99,999
Abrams Foundation
Liberty Mutual Insurance
PILLAR
$ 25,000 to $ 49,999
Anonymous
Joshua & Anita Bekenstein Charitable Fund
Amanda Eisel and John Becker
Nordblom Family Foundation
Jill and Michael Stansky
LEADER
$ 10,000 to $ 24,999
Beth Israel Lahey Health
Harvest Cove Talent Partners
SBLI
*If
ViB.tech
Emily Barker
Herbert Dike
Michael and Barbara Eisenson
The Gifford Family Foundation
Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
Jessica and Josh Lutzker
Lisa and Paul Magidson
Kristin and Paul Marcus
Lara Metcalf and Gregg Mastoras
Peter Mulderry
Reliant Foundation, Inc.
PROTECTOR
$ 5,000 to $ 9,999
Boston Children’s Hospital
Monica and Peter Campanella
Karen and Bob Forlenza
Tiffany and Mike Grace
Jason Hayes Foundation
Jennifer and Seth Stier
BUILDER
$ 1,000 to $ 4,999
Anonymous (3)
Quantiphi, Inc.
TURBOCAM
Margaret Boasberg
Carrie and Timothy Burr
Kathy and Chuck Candler
Sarah and Joshua Greenhill
Kristine Laping
Leader Bank Charitable Foundation
BY THE NUMBERS
JOIN OUR EFFORTS BECOME A FORCE FOR FAMILIES
There are many ways that you and your company or organization can get involved. Become a volunteer, host a drive at your office, attend an event or sponsor a young person through Backpack Heroes. Your support will directly impact the hundreds of young people we serve every day in New England.
1,142
9,323 SESSIONS WERE DELIVERED IN HOMES AND COMMUNITIES ACROSS NEW ENGLAND
GET INVOLVED
Donations & Donor-Advised Fund/Foundations
Jessica Fredriksen, Assistant Director of Development
jessica.fredriksen@youthvillages.org | 781-937-7965
Events & General Support
Mackenzie Giuffre, Development Manager mackenzie.giuffre@youthvillages.org | 781-937-5250
Volunteering & Corporate Partnerships
Sam Tyler, Development Coordinator
samantha.tyler@youthvillages.org | 781-937-5219
instagram.com/youthvillagesnewengland
YOUTH VILLAGES
12 Gill Street, Suite 5800
Woburn, MA 01801
(Address Service Requested)
Youth Villages is a private nonprofit that serves more than 47,000 children and their families each year from offices in the following cities:
Alabama: Auburn
Arizona: Phoenix
Arkansas: Fayetteville, Little Rock
Florida: Lakeland
Georgia: Atlanta, Douglasville
Indiana: Bloomington, Indianapolis
Kentucky: Lexington, Louisville
Louisiana: Baton Rouge
Maine: Biddeford
Massachusetts: Boston, Marlborough, Springfield, Raynham, Woburn
Mississippi: Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Jackson, Tupelo
New Hampshire: Manchester
North Carolina: Asheville, Boone, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Hickory, Jacksonville, Louisburg, Murphy, Raleigh-Durham, Waynesville, Wilmington
Ohio: Cincinnati, Dayton, Worthington
Oklahoma: Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Oregon: Bend, Portland, Salem
South Carolina: Columbia, Rock Hill
Rhode Island: Providence
Tennessee: Chattanooga, Clarksville, Columbia, Cookeville, Dickson, Dyersburg, Jackson, Johnson City, Knoxville, Memphis, Morristown, Nashville, Paris