Help a child Today!
Donate Monthly
No matter the season, the need never ends for children in the foster care system. Your recurring monthly donation allows us to provide resources, shelter and support services for youth in the Texas foster care system.
Help A Child Today!
No matter the season, the need never ends for children in the foster care system. Your donation allows us to provide resources, shelter and support services for youth in the Texas foster care system.
Sponsor A Child
A Hope Pack is often the first thing to provide comfort to a child on what is often the worst day of his, her or their life. You can help make sure that every child who is entering the foster care system in Texas has a fresh start by sponsoring Hope Packs for babies, children and teens in care.
Carrying Hope Programs
Carrying Hope is Changing the Narrative for Youth in Foster Care
Hair + Hope Program
The Hair + Hope program helps to fulfill the frequently neglected basic needs of African-American and biracial youths in foster care while also supporting and fully compensating stylists from predominately Black-, woman-owned salons who share their time and talent to support youths in care.
Our Hair + Hope program partners and fully compensates local stylists who are experts in textured hair with African American and biracial youth in the foster care system in desperate need of hair care services. Since its initiation, our Hair + Hope program has benefitted more than 100 youths in foster care.
Hope’s Home
Did you know that more than half of youths who age out of the foster care system become homeless within two years? Hope’s Home, our transitional housing project for youths who are aging out of the foster care system, combats this devastating scenario by providing young people ages 18-21 with housing, support, and wrap-around case management services, allowing them not only to have a place to sleep but also gain access to jobs, school, medical care, and more.
Make a Hope Pack
Carrying Hope’s Hope Packs –– backpacks brimming with comfort items and essentials designed to meet the needs of newborns through teens during the first 24-48 hours in foster care –– offer comfort and peace during a moment of crisis. Since 2016, our Hope Packs and programs have impacted the lives of nearly 30,000 youth and families in the Texas foster care system, transforming a once heartbreaking situation into a transition that begins with hope and healing.
Request a Hope Pack
If you are an agency or a caregiver in need of Hope Packs, we are here to help!
How to Get Involved
Find the best way to support Carrying Hope
Participate in one of Carrying Hope’s Annual Events
Summer 2024
December 2024
Hope For the Holidays
From the smell of hot cocoa that wafts through the air to the shimmer of holiday lights that adorn front lawns, there’s no time quite as magical as the holidays. But for children in the foster care system who are away from everything they’ve ever known, the holidays can be stressful and lonely.
This year, Carrying Hope Houston is fulfilling the holiday wish lists of dozens of foster youth who are residing at Houston-area residential treatment centers and shelters and spending the holidays without families, but we still need your help! If you would like to join us in spreading some extra hope and joy to these deserving kids during the holiday season, please consider sponsoring the foster youth we serve in one of three ways:
1. Purchase a new coat for a kid who needs one.
2. Sponsor a $50 holiday gift card for a teen.
3. Make a Hope Pack for a child entering foster care. We are always in need of Hope Packs for all ages, newborns through teens, and you can find supply lists at our Make a Hope Pack page.
Your kindness and generosity will ensure that these special kids do not get overlooked, and we are so very grateful for the joy you will be bringing them during a time of year that is joyous for so many of us. Below is a list of the foster youth in need of sponsorships this year.
Carrying Hope has wonderful ways that you can help make the holidays merry and bright for foster children this holiday season!
Interested in becoming a delivery driver?
Sign up to become a driver for the Austin, Houston or Central Texas area.
Sign up here!
Gender-Inclusive Hope Packs
Carrying Hope strives to ensure that our Hope Packs contain a range of items that reflect the diversity and interests of the children we serve, including those who are part of the LGBTQ community. Want to make a gender-inclusive Hope Pack? Purchase items from our Inclusive Wishlist or swap gender-specific items for gender-neutral items in any age Hope Pack.
Make A Donation
Mission Impact
Carrying Hope's mission is to improve the lives of youth and families who have been impacted by the foster care system through resources, support services, housing, and enrichment opportunities. Since 2016, our Hope Packs and programs have impacted the lives of nearly 30,000 youth and families in the Texas foster care system, transforming a once heartbreaking situation into a transition that begins with hope and healing.
Hope Pack Distributions YOY
- 550 Hope Packs in 2016
- 1200 Hope Packs in 2017
- 1563 Hope Packs in 2018
- 2700 Hope Packs in 2019
- 4010 Hope Packs in 2020
- 5000 Hope Packs in 2021
- 6000 Hope Packs in 2022
- 8,238 Hope packs in 2023
Hope Packs Distributed to Children in Foster Care
Hope Packs Distributed Every Day in 2023
$ Spent Directly on Foster Care Children
In 2023, Carrying Hope:
- Invested approximately $20,000 dollars into our Hair + Hope program, providing 70 youths with hair care services they desperately deserved.
- Provided 200 youths living in shelters and spending the holidays without families with gift cards, wishlist items and memorable parties and outings.
- Treated 100 foster youth in the Austin and Houston areas to a full day of waterpark and splashy fun while gifting them $100 gift cards to go back-to- school shopping.
- In 2023, our Hope Packs impacted 8,238 foster youth and the families caring for them in Texas.
How You Can Help
Carrying Hope is always in need of volunteers willing to help serve our mission and further our cause. From large-scale corporate events that create hundreds of Hope Packs at a time to community drives to family service projects, there are plenty of ways for you to get involved.
Here are three of our most popular ways to help:
THE “HOPE ALL YEAR” GIFT: $600
Your gift of $600 will provide Hope Packs to more than a half-dozen children who are entering the foster care system.
THE “SIBLING HOPE” GIFT: $200
Your gift of $200 will provide Hope Packs for a sibling group that is entering the foster care system.
THE “CLASSIC HOPE” GIFT:$85
Your gift of $85 will provide 1 Hope Pack to a child who is entering the foster care system.
No matter the season, the need never ends for children in the foster care system. Your recurring monthly donation allows us to provide ongoing support in the form of Hope Packs and most-needed items to the children, youth and teens who need it most.
Short on time? Purchase a Hope Pack! Every pack is brimming with adorable comfort items and essentials for a child entering the foster care system, providing them with some much-needed comfort and hope in a moment of crisis.
Carrying Hope is thrilled to have a larger-than-life mascot, Hope the Hedgehog, who adores spending time with children and adults alike! You’ll frequently see her making new friends, passing out stickers and collecting Hope Pack items at Carrying Hope events. She’s also available for birthday parties, office visits and more!
Follow @carryinghope