The HALO Foundation

The HALO Girls Home is a licensed Transitional Living Program (TLP). It is an 18 month-long program that provides free housing for pregnant, parenting, and non-parenting youth ages 16-21 years old who are in homeless or high-risk situations. The goal of the program is to help youth exit crisis mode, set long-term goals and learn to live independently in a safe environment. Youth accepted into the program are required to be enrolled in school and seek and obtain part-time employment while finishing high school. Youth who have graduated from high school must either obtain full-time employment or start college classes. Youth also participate in life-skills workshops, aimed at independent living, working towards the 5 main focus areas of: Daily Living, Self Care, Relationships and Communication, Housing and Money Management, and Career and Education. Each youth meets weekly with HALO Staff to work on their goals and assess their progress throughout the program.

The HALO Jefferson City Boys program is a safe place of healing and hope and puts at-risk and homeless teen boys on a path to a positive future. Through tutoring, connecting with male role models, life skill development, healthy relationship building, and recreational activities, these boys have the potential to do great things in our community. This program takes place in a home surrounded by 6 acres of land and connects male teens to resources year-round, provides a home cooked meal and is open during the after-school hours of Monday-Thursday 3 p.m. – 9 p.m. and hosts Summer activities. Partnering with the Jefferson City Public School Districts for referrals, this program serves over 50 youth per year. Additionally, this program provides the boys an opportunity to be a part of the HALO Heat Basketball team, which competes in AAU tournaments and focuses on the benefits of being part of a team.

The HALO Learning Center provides a collaborative and safe space for HALO Uganda youth to gather, learn, teach, grow and flourish. The Learning Center is open to youth in HALO Homes, as well as local community youth, up to age 23. The Learning Center provides skills training for youth and classes in topics of Fashion & Design, Salon/Cosmetology, Music and Dance and Entrepreneurship, as well as life skills training, therapeutic art, food support and community events. Additionally, The Learning Center is an accredited vocational institution in the areas of Fashion & Design and Salon/Cosmetology.

The Community Outreach Program serves youth in the greatest of need from 2 nearby slums. This program provides food support, counseling, peer to peer support groups, and skills sessions. Additionally, this program facilitates a Girls Empowerment Program which reaches out to vulnerable girls who have been sexually exploited and conducts counseling sessions and life skill opportunities.

HALO Homes empower youth by facilitating holistic development through shelter, health, education, mentorship, future focused training, therapeutic art, and reconciliation with their origin communities where appropriate. HALO supports 2 homes in Kampala, Uganda; the Lungujja Girls Home, supporting 14 girls ages 0-18 & Kibuli Boys Home, supporting 20 boys ages 0-18. The average length of stay is 3 years and youth come from backgrounds of full or partial orphans, living on the street, involved in prostitution or experiencing sever abuse or neglect.

HALO Resettlement & Boarding Program is reserved as the next right step for eligible youth who have spent an average of 3 years in a HALO Home. Resettlement is the point in which a youth has completed their residency in the HALO home and will re-enter the community independently or with an identified family member, or continue their Primary or Secondary education through a nearby boarding school, fully supported by HALO.

HALO began working in Kenya in 2007 and currently supports two homes in the Nanyuki area. The HALO Baraka Home houses 28-32 youth, ages 0-16. Additionally, HALO provides funding support for the Simama Transition Home for youth ages 0-17. Many of the youth living in these homes have lost parents to the AIDS epidemic, and have been effected by extreme poverty, abuse and neglect. HALO meets the basic needs of youth in the Homes including food, water, clothing, shelter, caretakers, education and art programming.

Caretakers and staff work to reunite youth with their communities of origin through family tracing and reunification when assessed as safe and appropriate. Once reunified with family, youth receive ongoing support from HALO to ensure progress in school and overall wellbeing.

Lily of the Valley was the first HALO-supported orphanage, and has had a relationship with this home since 2004. HALO provides the children of this home with tuition for education, school uniforms, therapeutic art and other needs. This orphanage houses anywhere from 65 to 110 children from the streets of Tijuana each year, with a focus on youth who have been victims of sexual abuse.

Once youth are eligible, HALO provides scholarships to the youth of Lily of the Valley to attend vocational training or University based off of an application and approval process.

HALO supports 30 children at the Ashirvad Orphanage in Tuni, India. Many of the children residing at Ashirvad have not been able to stay with family due to severe poverty, illness, and/or the death of a parent or guardian. Upon first working in India, many of the youth at this home had lost family members from the 2004 tsunami that ravaged the nearby coast.
HALO has been providing food, water, clothing, shelter, caretakers, therapeutic art and education to these children since 2006. In addition to providing basic needs, HALO has granted several scholarships to eligible youth from Ashirvad to attend vocation training or University over the years. Several youth have graduated and have entered the community as a contributing member, now able to provide care for themselves and their families.

The HALO KC Homes will operate in the same fashion as the Jefferson City Girls Home. They will be 18 month-long programs that provides free housing for pregnant, parenting, and non-parenting youth ages 16-21 years old who are in homeless or high-risk situations. The goal of the program is to help youth exit crisis mode, set long-term goals and learn to live independently in a safe environment.
Youth accepted into the program are required to be enrolled in school and seek and obtain part-time employment while finishing high school. Youth who have graduated from high school must either obtain full-time employment or start college classes. Youth will participate in life-skills workshops, aimed at independent living, working towards the 5 main focus areas of: Daily Living, Self Care, Relationships and Communication, Housing and Money Management, and Career and Education. Each youth will meet weekly with HALO Staff to work on their goals and assess their progress throughout the program.