Forty is Fabulous!
April 1, 2023
We’re still shaking the confetti from our hair after the 23rd Annual Dream Builders’ Birthday Bash where we celebrated 40 Years of Help, Hope and Homes at HSI. It was a beautiful evening filled with historical remembrances and history-making numbers for an HSI Bash!
The Presbyterian Church in Morristown (PCM) and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church were honored with our Dream Builder Award as being integral participants in HSI’s inception as well as steadfast supporters through the years. Former PCM Pastor Tom Sheffield provided an insightful reflection of the beginnings of the Morris Shelter and praised the continued unity of the churches and our organization for making such an important impact in the community. Both congregations showed up with their dancing shoes on, ready to celebrate with us!
We also honored one of our beloved volunteers, Janine Chilson, with the Mary E. Van Kirk Volunteer Spirit Award for her 15 years (and counting!) of dedication to HSI. Janine is always “Happy to Help” whenever Volunteer Manager Tamala Reynolds is in need, and she humbly accepted this award with an abundance of love and gratitude to HSI, recognizing all the wonderful friends she’s made because of the work she’s done with us.
Our guest speaker, Nohemy, once an HSI guest when she was a teenager and now looking ahead to finishing her last year of law school, left no eye dry in the room with her eloquent and touching speech about how Homeless Solutions truly saved her and her mother – and how they’re now looking forward to purchasing a home in the near future. Many HSI supporters have followed Nohemy’s journey and were bursting with pride at the success she’s already achieved.
No birthday party is complete without a cake, and with the help of current and former HSI Trustees, dignitaries such as Senator Anthony Bucco, Assemblywoman Aura Dunn and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s District Director Kellie Doucette, and all of our fabulous supporters, we wished HSI the happiest of birthdays!
The icing on the cake? We raised $501,960 in net proceeds, surpassing our past event proceeds and welcomed 364 people to our sold-out event. Thank you to all who were part of this special 40th Birthday Bash!