Annual Appeal 2024

Your support of Italian Home for Children impacts people far beyond our hilltop campus here in Jamaica Plain. By giving, you help us provide behavioral and educational assistance to children, adolescents, families, and adults in the wider community – through our clinic and urgent care in Brighton, in-home therapy, therapeutic mentoring, and services in the Boston Public Schools.

Here is one inspiring example of how your assistance allows long-term therapy intervention to yield dramatic results. Sallie, 9, was feeling the stress of major changes.
Her military dad was deployed multiple times, her schooling was disrupted by the pandemic, and classmates were bullying her because of her special needs as a diabetic.

Sallie began exhibiting dangerous, unhealthy behavior. The family pursued all avenues to get Sallie into therapy that matched her unique challenges with diabetes and military life but could not find any available help for in-person services within driving distance.

As Sallie’s needs intensified, Italian Home for Children stepped up to offer in-home therapy with clinician Jim Keleher. Jim worked weekly with Sallie and her family. He explored self-esteem issues with Sallie and how the family could become more intentional in enjoying the time they spend together.
Sallie has blossomed, finding her sessions with Jim “calming.” Now excelling at school, she has even become comfortable enough to lead talks about diabetes to her classmates! With her father home and her unsafe behavior stabilized, the family is able to eat out together and take overnight excursions.

Says her mother: “Jim has helped not only Sallie but our entire family. He has given us hope. It has made us recognize that even spending ten minutes together smiling is a success. We are so, so grateful!” Will you support families like Sallie’s with a year-end gift?

Italian Home provides services to more than 1,500 individuals every year. We are ever thankful for the support of our donors – your generosity allows young people like Sallie – and many others – to be safe, to be seen, and to thrive.