This inspiring event is an opportunity for our colleagues, friends, and fellow leaders to come together and learn about Horizons for Homeless Children’s intentional approach to mitigating the toxic impact of homelessness on children and their families.
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Marriott Boston Copley Place
110 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02116
At Horizons, children experiencing homelessness benefit from a safe, trauma-informed education center where they can learn, play, and thrive. Our literacy curriculum includes a light-flooded library with over 3,000 titles in nine different languages. These books include multicultural themes, and messages of courage, inclusion, acceptance, perseverance, diversity, and self-esteem. Horizons’ children express delight to see reflections of themselves in the books’ characters, and parents and children both benefit from reading in their first language in addition to English.
This year’s Women’s Breakfast keynote speaker, Malcolm Mitchell, a former New England Patriots Super Bowl champion, knows firsthand how literacy can transform a life. “For me, reading broke down all the barriers that my statistics had predicted: a disadvantaged, African-American boy, from a single-mother home, no access to my father. But by learning to read, those statistics are no longer relevant,” shared Malcolm. He has written several children’s books, created a youth literacy initiative called Read With Malcolm, and founded a nonprofit with a focus on increasing reading and book ownership. Despite awards both on and off the field, Malcolm considers his love of reading his greatest achievement.
2023 Committee Event Chair
Sue O’Connell
Committee Members
Mickey Ahearn
Egan Cammack
Barbara Elia
Jason Goins
Michelle Hicks
Molly Lawrence
Colleen Morzano
Erika Murphy
Shanna O’Reilly
Daniele Serafini
Janice Sturchio
Victoria Sullivan
Caitlin Vorlicek
Karen Walsh
Allison Zacharek