How can you help?

2026 Holiday Programs

Haven House offers several ways to help youth in our programs and their families celebrate this holiday season.

Whether you Adopt a Wishlist, help a young person give back to those who care for them, or provide a holiday meal, you can make a real difference.

Sign Up to Help with Holiday Programs

Every family deserves a special holiday for their children. Individuals or groups can sponsor one or more Haven House youth wish lists. All families who are enrolled in the Haven House Adopt a Wish List program have a youth who is currently participating in a program at Haven House. In any given year, we need sponsors for between 160-200 wish lists.

Sponsors purchase wish list items and an essential needs item for each child or youth, as well as a grocery or gas gift card to go towards family needs.

For each youth, please budget for:

1-3 items from a wish list totaling no more than $75
A coat, hoodie, or socks/underwear/diapers
A $25 gas or grocery gift card

We do ask that donors adhere to this budget – if you are feeling generous, consider adopting an additional holiday wish list, making a financial donation, or purchasing items for our Essentials Pantry.

Ages of children and youth range from infant through 24 years old (Many of the youth in our transitional housing program are young parents – consider signing up to sponsor the wish list of a young parent in our program and their child(ren)!). We will begin matching donors as soon as wish lists are submitted by staff. Donors who have signed up by November 10th should expect to receive their lists no later than November 16th – you will receive more information when you have been matched.

Requirements

All gifts must be new.
Gifts should be dropped off during weekday business hours between Wednesday 12/2 and Tuesday 12/8 at 1008 Bullard Court, Raleigh, NC.
Gifts should not be wrapped.

Please note that to preserve their anonymity and dignity, you will not be able to meet your adopted family. However, please know your gifts are greatly appreciated.

Note: We will be scheduling gift wrapping sessions between Wednesday, December 9th and Friday, December 18th. Exact days and times TBA. Please note your interest on your sign-up form, and we will be in touch.

We are collecting donations for our Youth Holiday Shop. This initiative lets youth in Haven House programs pick out a gift (for free) for each of their caregivers. The Holiday Shop empowers youth who might not otherwise be able to give back to the adults who care for them.

Donations should be gift items for adults in the $20-50 range. We will send you a wish list of gifts for the shop to help guide your purchases, or you can purchase directly from our Amazon Wishlist. Please contact Kelly Bloom at kbloom@havenhousenc.org to make an appointment to drop off donations by Friday, December 11th at 5 pm.

Give the gift of a holiday meal! We urgently need $15-$25 grocery cards (Food Lion/Walmart preferred) for families to purchase a turkey and/or perishable items for their holiday meals in November & December.

Interested in providing more meal support at Thanksgiving? Let us know on our holiday sign-up form, and we can share more information.

Gift cards are one of the most frequently requested items on the youth wish lists. Gift cards provide an opportunity for youth to practice financial responsibility and make personal choices about what they want to buy. We also use gift cards to support families who enroll in a Haven House program in late December and need assistance for the holidays. Gift cards can be in $5-50 denominations for restaurants, big box stores, grocery stores, movie theaters, gasoline, automotive stores, etc.

Gift cards can be dropped off any time attn: Kelly Bloom during business hours (M-Th 8:30-5, F 8:30-3) at 1008 Bullard Court, Raleigh, NC.