Our mission is to empower the Invisible Populations of Orange County.
We say YES, when everyone else says no.
Our vision: When our good works are done, we envision a thriving, supportive community full of caring and productive individuals where everyone has a safe place to call home.
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Je'net Kreitner Named "Founder of the Year" by AFP
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Southern California Edison!
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Eddie Marquez of SoCal Edison presenting the $5,000 check to Executive Director Je'net Kreitner
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Our favorite call of the day, only second to calls of success from our women, are those of grant awards for our programming!
We are so grateful for Southern California Edison's $5,000 investment in HopeWorks! Education and Enrichment Center that will help enable families to continue on their path of self-sufficiency.
Thank you, Southern California Edison for your generous contribution to Grandma's House of Hope!
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We at Grandma's House of Hope are happy to share with you some very exciting news. Our very own Executive Director, Je'net Kreitner, has been named Founder of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals for the 29th Annual National Philanthropy Day on November 20th.  Je'net was featured in the Orange County Business Journal (Sept 1 ed.), which recognized her for "founding GHH in an effort to give back to a community that helped her rebuild her life after she experienced an episode of homelessness in 1991. Currently, Kreitner is serving a two-year term on the Anti-Human Trafficking Congressional Advisory Committee and is involved in the Continuum of Care 10-year plan to End Homelessnes in Orange County." Please join us in congratulating Je'net and celebrating this exciting occasion at the National Philanthropy Day luncheon on November 20th! Tickets are on sale now.
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Acts of Kindness
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Volunteers Sylvia and Linda from St. Columbans Church bring bags of love to our Healing House.
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We have been reminded this month of the small acts of kindness that can bless our lives and the lives of the people we serve.
In this fall edition of our newsletter, we are excited to share our successes this summer, shine a spotlight on our most treasured partners (you!), and share how helping with the taken-for-granted basics can make a big impact on those in our community.
We invite you to read on and learn how your acts of kindness can bring joy to others this fall.
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Upcoming Events & Ways to Get Involved!
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Calling All Volunteers! Safe Harvest - October 31
Our Annual Safe Harvest Event provides a safe way for children living in motels to Trick-or-Treat on Halloween Night! Volunteers and donations are needed to put on this fun event for over 800 children living in homeless conditions. Volunteer positions include hosting game booths, crafts, face painting, food serving, setup and cleanup. We are also in need of costumes and new toys- gently used are okay! We know these are difficult times, but protecting our children should be a priority for each of us! Please consider joining us in this community endeavor and give your time or resources as your heart leads you. To learn more about how you can help or reserve your spot today, please click here.
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Food & Costume Drives Needed!
Consider hosting a food, costume or toy drive for the holidays with your company, church, school or organization. Costume donations must be received by October 15th to benefit our Safe Harvest Event. Food items most needed are peanut butter, canned fruit and canned "Meals-in-1." Email us at volunteer@grandmashouseofhope.org for more information on how to get started.
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Let's make sure children in local motels get a Christmas!
 Host a gift wrap party with your school, church, organization, friends or family to benefit our Children's Christmas Party on December 20th. Just ask each person attending to bring a new toy donation and some fun gift wrap supplies, turn on some music and help us spread the holiday cheer! New wrapped toys must be labeled for gender and age appropriateness. All donations must be new toys for hygiene and safety purposes and received by Friday, December 12th.
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2,160 Bare Necessities
We are so grateful to volunteers like George Rivero Lechuga, Syria Gonzalez, Celeste Rivero and family who are creative in their volunteer efforts but also bring it back to the basics!
General needs donations help Grandma's House of Hope keep our expenses down and in turn we can focus on programming.To learn more about our basic needs,
visit our wishlist here.
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or call us at (714) 558-8600
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September is Hunger Action Month!
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New American Funding volunteers at August's Nana's Kidz Food Packing Day
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Orange County ranks 2nd highest in California for food insecurity, affecting almost 13% of our population. Fifty percent of students qualify for free and reduced price lunch at school. For Magnolia School District in Anaheim, over 85% are enrolled in the free-reduced lunch program and in Anaheim Elementary School District alone it is as high as 86.1%.
 | | Chinese Baptist Church volunteers at September's Nana's Kidz Food Packing Day |
Our Nana's Kidz program provides weekend and summer meal security for these children that are also living in homeless conditions.
You can do your part to help solve hunger by wearing orange this month to spread awareness or by sponsoring a child in our Nana's Kidz program for just $19 per month!
Help solve hunger & donate today.
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Our Board is a Treat!
Strategic planning at our Board Retreat could not have been more fun! We are excited for what's in store for 2015. Ever considered joining a Board of Directors?
Why not one that is so close to your heart at Grandma's House of Hope?
This Fall we are recruiting innovative and passionate individuals to join our Board of Directors! To learn more, click here.
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Volunteering is Contagious!
We hosted Voyagers Church for their annual Youth Ministry's Serve Week! 10 young adults helped beautify our Campus home's front landscape. The teens learned a bit about gardening that day and we are proud to report the ladies in our program have a new found joy for volunteering! Our ladies have created daily volunteer shifts to make sure their flowers and herbs continue to grow!
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Action-Packed Summer at HopeWorks!
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HopeWorks! kids at Disney Day
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This summer, HopeWorks Education & Enrichment Center (HWEEC) hosted its first ever Summer Kids Club all summer long! With up to 25 kids per day, our Summer Staff, which included Odezza, Calvin, Emme, Nicole, along with the support of amazing volunteers and community groups hosted a variety of fun activities. Our rich curriculum including: arts and crafts, science, physical exercise games, healthy cooking, "Girls Club," cupcake decorating, journaling lessons, goal-setting, career talks for teens, guitar and piano lessons, a Family Picnic Day, Bowling and Disney field trip!
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Volunteers from National Charity League, Yorba Linda Chapter, hosting Kids Club lunch time!
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Special thanks to Disney and Anaheim Resort Transportation (ART) for enabling our kids to go to "the happiest place on earth" this summer, to National Charity League, Yorba Linda Chapter and SSS for hosting our Kids Club lunches and to community group
"Love & Care" for planning our first Family Picnic Day! To learn more about how you can get involved at HopeWorks! Afterschool Club,
contact Volunteer@grandmashouseofhope.org.
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"Every Child Deserves a Backpack & School Supplies" Results
 What happens when the buzzer starts and 40 adults competitively stuff backpacks for homeless children to go back-to-school? Impact happens! PIMCO volunteers hosted a backpack stuffing day in collaboration with their company-wide Global Volunteer Week and then joined us for our Nana's Kidz Back-to-School outreach event at El Modena Resource Center. 300 children enjoyed an afternoon of activities and were provided a much needed backpack stuffed full of school supplies to start the new year!
Additionally, thanks to individual "Backpack Sponsors," Kareo, Bingham, Tree of Life and Activate Church, Grandma's House of Hope was able to provide backpacks and school supplies to an extra 350 children living in homeless conditions through our partners at the Collaboration to Assist Motel Families and Tustin Family Youth Center.
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From House to Home to Holidays!!
 Thanks to the Circle K team at UCI participating in our Ikea Build Challenge along with the support of Anaheim DEVOTE and Activate Church during our Moving Parties, our ladies can now call our newest housing site - Hope Harbor - a home! This marks an increase in Grandma's House of Hope's women's housing program - we have grown to a total 88 bed capacity!
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Special thanks to Anaheim D.E.V.O.T.E. for donating a new outdoor canopy and patio furniture at Hope Harbor!
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Help us keep up the warm and fuzzy feeling for our ladies by adopting a home from the holidays! Decor and gift projects for volunteer groups abound! We are looking for groups to adopt each of our four homes (project ideas can include holiday decorating, crafts, card-making, gift-wrapping and more). Just contact us at volunteer@grandmashouseofhope.org to discuss the holiday opportunities today.
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Robert Ahlke
Board Chair
Ahlke Construction
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Je'net Kreitner
Board President
Co-Founder and Executive Director
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Christina Haupert
Board Treasurer
Wells Fargo
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Denise Voss
Board Secretary
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
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Pat Kreitner
Co-Founder
MTFC Foster Parent
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Dr. Ja-Hong Kim
Assistant Professor of Urology, UCLA
School of Medicine
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Virginia DePaola
AVP Senior Analyst
Wells Fargo Bank
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Deacon Doug Cook
San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church
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Paula Delong
Telecommunications Administrator
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Mariann Vlacilek
Volunteer, Anaheim Police Department
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Is This You?
Become our next board member!
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Thank You to Our Sponsors!
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Copyright © 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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