Horizons Expands: Meeting the Growing Needs of Children Experiencing Homelessness in Boston
Over the past four years, the Edgerley Family Horizons Center has been a source of support for children and families experiencing homelessness in Boston. The vision for our new building has come to fruition: we’ve grown our capacity by 30% in a state-of-the-art center that provides the best in trauma-informed design, enhanced our work in classrooms, used new space to implement programs and training for parents, and fostered community between our families and staff. However, as the number of families experiencing homelessness has grown, so has our waitlist. To address this need, we’re expanding our space and evolving to respond to the needs of the children and families who need us most.
Accomplishments in Our First Four Years in the Edgerley Family Horizons Center
Since opening its doors, Horizons has achieved remarkable milestones:
- – Empowered learning and growth for hundreds of children in spaces designed to nurture their development.
- – Fostered community among parents, staff, and families, creating a strong network of support.
- – Harnessed the collective power of our dedicated staff, coming together under one roof to serve our families effectively.
- – Proven our financial model works, ensuring that our approach is sustainable and impactful.
- – Identified opportunities for innovation, allowing us to better meet the evolving needs of children and parents experiencing homelessness.
We have also learned along the way. We have seen firsthand the profound effects that homelessness has on children, particularly as it relates to their social-emotional well-being and early development.
Serving More Children
Currently, Horizons has a waitlist of over 200 children, and that number has been climbing. To meet the rising demand and better support children, we are opening two additional classrooms and a new gross motor space in previously unfinished space in our building. This expansion will allow us to serve an additional 32 children, bringing our total capacity to 265 children. The new classrooms will help us address this gap, allowing us to reduce the waitlist and provide more children with the opportunity to thrive in a safe, supportive environment.
Spaces Incorporate Recent Learning
As we designed the spaces, our educators were once again a vital part of the process, helping us refine our layouts to incorporate what we have learned over the past few years. Our new classrooms, while similar, have evolved to create more spaces for children to self-regulate and our hallways are also designed to give children places to take time to transition prior to entering their classroom as needed.
These additional classrooms necessitate additional staffing. We continue to take a high-touch approach to learning and support, knowing that progress is best made when it’s individualized and, when possible, delivered one-on-one.
Space Designed for Social-Emotional Growth
Over the years, we’ve seen a significant rise in the demand for social-emotional support in our classrooms. Many of the children we serve demonstrate dysregulation due to trauma, and a growing number require sensory outlets to help manage their emotions. In addition to the new classrooms, the expansion will include a new gross motor space to address these needs.
Gross motor skills—large movements made with muscles in the arms, legs, and torso—are critical to healthy early childhood development. More than just a place for physical play, the room will be a trauma-informed retreat for children when they become overstimulated. The space will include features like compression areas that allow children to regulate their nervous systems in a supportive, calm environment. This specialized room will be designed for children to recharge, helping them return to class feeling more centered and ready to learn.
Greater Impact for Greater Good
With this expansion, Horizons is poised to serve even more children and families, providing them with the support and resources they need to thrive despite the challenges of homelessness. These new spaces will open in time for the start of the new school year in September 2025. This capital investment was made possible by the generosity of mission-minded philanthropic supporters.
"The commitment of our community continues to empower Horizons to evolve and respond to the changing landscape of homelessness. Together, we are not only meeting the immediate needs of children and families but ensuring that Horizons is well positioned to positively impact our community for years to come,”
