The Relatives Family Update
Please ensure you scroll down to read all of the recent stories in this newsletter.
It was just supposed to be a quick, post-work trip to the grocery store.
I needed a few odds and ends for dinner, some yogurt for breakfast, and my husband had mentioned a craving for peach cobbler, so on my way home from work I stopped at the Harris Teeter on East Blvd. While in the check-out line, the young lady bagging my groceries noticed my Relatives nametag.
“Do you work at The Relatives?” she asked me. “Because I stayed there a few years ago and the people there were so nice to me.”
What began as a quick, post-work trip to the store had become a full-circle moment.
The Relatives began on East Blvd, in the basement of Dilworth United Methodist Church, just a few blocks away from where this young lady told me she had received the help she needed.
2024 marks The Relatives’ 50th Anniversary, an amazing and truly humbling milestone. I am excited about celebrating this achievement with you during the year ahead and I want to acknowledge there are still kids who need us.
That is why I am so grateful for your support; it has given vulnerable youth and young adults a safe place to receive the relief, acceptance, and empowerment they’ve needed for the past 50 years and will ensure The Relatives can continue to love them, support them, and accept them as their authentic selves for many years to come.
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Trish Hobson
Executive Director
Human Trafficking Prevention Month
January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a presidentially designated observance designed to educate the public about human trafficking and the role they can play in preventing and responding to human trafficking.
Since 1 in 5 run away or unhoused youth will experience some level of human trafficking, The Relatives plays an active role in ensuring our community’s youth knows there are safe alternatives available.
Our Runaway Prevention Specialists work directly with CMPD and community organizations such as Pat’s Place to provide safe alternatives including residency at our Youth Crisis Center for homeless and runaway youth.
Rooted For The Future In 2024
Strong roots make for stability: the deeper the roots, the greater the strength.
As we welcome 2024 and begin celebrating our 50th anniversary, The Relatives wants to thank you for being a vital part of our family and extend a warm welcome to those who joined our family during the holiday season.
Three Easy Ways YOU Can Celebrate The Relatives 50th Anniversary!
Become a Hope Builder
Create your Volunteer Profile
Come Meet The Relatives
The Relatives is Counting on You In 2024
80% of the young people served by The Relatives are unhoused, precariously housed, or experience some form of homelessness.
Each year, Mecklenburg County conducts a Point in Time (PIT) count, surveying the sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations in our community. This two-day event, beginning the evening of January 24th, helps our community receive the support it needs to better serve this vulnerable population by ensuring #EVERYBODYCOUNTSCLT.
Supporting our youth directly through our Amazon Giving List is a great way to ensure the young people served by The Relatives have the essentials needed to thrive in 2024.
