Woburn Nonprofit Raises $830k For Mental Health For Foster Teens, Kids

WOBURN, MA — Youth Villages, a Woburn nonprofit's Spring Celebration Gala which occurred on May.19, raised $830,000 to help young adults aging out of foster care transition into successful adulthood.

The event celebrated 15 years in Massachusetts for the organization, which has 94 locations in 24 states that support children in foster care across the country. The Gala raised funds through corporate and individual donations before the event, tickets, and a live auction. The funds raised will support LifeSet, a program that helps young adults aging out of foster care with the transition into successful adulthood, and the new Intercept for Emergency Diversion program, which helps prevent children from boarding in emergency departments while waiting for mental health treatment.

Close to 300 attendees heard the inspiring story of a 22-year-old in the LifeSet program, who shared her journey from suffering eight years of abuse as a child to being the first person in her family to graduate college. And a parent whose 15-year-old daughter was in the Intercept program and stuck in an endless cycle of emergency room visits for her mental health and finally found progress with Youth Villages.

"It was incredible to finally be able to come together in person for the first time since the pandemic," said Matt Stone, executive director of Youth Villages Massachusetts and New Hampshire. "We’ve gone from serving one family in 2007 to over 900 young people per day today and we could not have done that without the generous support from this community."

Youth Villages has served over 10,000 young people in their 15 years in Massachusetts and continues to help children, families and young adults live successfully.

Find more information about the Youth Villages organization here.