Help One More Child Spend One Less Day Alone

At our Kansas City Learning Center, HALO youth are given a safe place to receive lessons in therapeutic art, professional development, higher education prep, and after-school tutoring. They are taught how to set goals, work towards them, and reach their full potential with support from HALO. Therapeutic art programs help the kids explore their emotions, understand conflicts or feelings that are causing them distress, and help them find resolutions.

Recently, HALO kids have been learning about influential artists. These workshops serve as a means of showing our youth contemporary artists they may not be familiar with but whose distinctive styles and unique forms of expression made a strong impact in the industry. These lessons also show HALO youth that there are multiple ways of expressing themselves, not just words. During this art workshop, they learned about the artist's career and their life, and then they replicated the artist's style in their own ways.

Alma Woodey Thomas

Recently, HALO youth learned about Alma Woodsey Thomas. Thomas' work consisted of an abstract painting style focused on bright colors through a series of "dashes." Thomas used these stripes to create images rather than try to depict something realistically. They learned how to use art to show how something feels rather than simply trying to recreate what something looks like perfectly.

Kara Walker

HALO youth also learned about Kara Walker. Walker's work is primarily distinguished by cut-paper silhouettes that depict historical narratives and explore race, gender, sexuality, identity, and violence. This lesson was a great chance for HALO kids to try to create images and stories without the ability to show smaller details, such as lighting and shading.

On World Poetry Day, HALO kids in our Kansas City Learning Center had a creative writing workshop on Haikus. Haikus are Japanese poetic forms made up of three lines, with a 5-7-5 syllable format in each line respectively. Haikus are helping HALO kids learn more about poetry, allowing them to examine syllables, paint pictures using very few words, and have a chance to focus on their senses. The kids then got an opportunity to create three haikus as a group:

HALO Haiku 1: Springtime

Spring is wonderful

It has many bright colors

Bees help flowers grow

HALO Haiku 2: Frogs

Live on lilypads

Frogs make croaking noises

Grab flies with their tongue

HALO Haiku 3: Rain

Makes the ground muddy

Rain does make you feel cozy

More flowers growing

Because of your support, HALO kids are able to heal with therapeutic art programs. Thank you for helping HALO kids color their dreams one workshop at a time!

Every month, HALO focuses on a new life skill stemming from our roots when HALO was founded. Just like a family, HALO wants to better equip and educate HALO youth, staff, volunteers, and the community. With new year's resolutions being prevalent, it is only fitting that January's life skill is goal-setting.

In the Kansas City Learning Center, HALO youth worked on their goals in order to envision their future happiness and success. The month started with "I Want To..." worksheets, in which youth can draw or write things they want to Try, See, Experience, Watch, Visit, Accomplish, Avoid, and Become. The next activity was creating Vision Boards, so the youth could envision what future success looks like, from hobbies they want to try to jobs they want to have. The final project involved putting themselves into a Comic Strip so HALO youth could see themselves accomplishing their goals.

HALO youth have goals they want to accomplish:

I want to Try: to get in the NFL, to do a backflip, Asian food, to get into an honors class at school, to be a better friend

I want to See: a fox, a real life waterfall, a lion, a spirit, my mom

I want to Experience: riding a dirtbike, a Broadway play, Hawaii, a concert, a football game

I want to Watch: a Chiefs game, animals at the zoo, a good sci-fi movie, Youtube, the new Frozen movie

I want to Visit: the ocean, a football stadium, Italy, Florida, my grandma

I want to Accomplish: going on a trip/vacation, getting into an Ivy League school or a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), becoming a football player, high school graduation, getting good grades

I want to Avoid: injuries, drugs, negativity, bad behavior, breaking my leg

I want to Become: an NFL player, a superhero, a popstar, a business owner, a lawyer

HALO youth have visions for their futures. HALO youth have the passion to accomplish their goals. HALO youth are capable of so many things. Thanks to your continued support, the Learning Center programs are able to create a space for HALO kids to believe in themselves and break the cycle of youth homelessness.

"These are kids who are resilient beyond anything we could imagine. But to be resilient, they need us to step up and support them through their best days and their worst days. To give them the chance to change their trajectories. That is what today is about." - Rebecca Welsh, HALO Founder

HALO and Moroccanoil presented the Inspire Luncheon at The Standard in New York on November 3rd. Welcoming guests from all around the country, this thoughtful discussion about service and giving back was led by Jenna Lee, journalist and founder of SmartHER News.

The event began with a heartwarming and emotional update from HALO alum, Marjai, who spoke on how HALO has supported her to reach her full potential. A current senior in college with a full-ride scholarship majoring in journalism and Black studies, Marjai thanked HALO and HALO supporters for believing in the "little girl from Kansas City with really big dreams."

The program continued with an inspiring dialogue between Nigel Barker, Photographer, and TV Personality, and HALO Alum, Madison. The conversation began with Madison talking about her story, and how she found HALO through art programming that came to a shelter she was in. Nigel and Madison shared stories of how art has been therapeutic throughout both of their lives, including Nigel's family life.

Jenna Lee welcomed a full panel of people up to the stage to join Nigel and Madison in sharing how they are making a difference through giving back. Jack Barker, Nigel's son and creator of Monstar, talked about how important it is to make giving a part of your everyday life, especially as a kid. Carmen Tal, founder of Moroccanoil, spoke on her passion for HALO and supporting youth and kids all around the world. Nicole Miller, fashion designer, stressed the value of bringing philanthropy into companies and businesses. Nigel Barker shared how to incorporate giving back into your family culture. Madison, HALO alum, spoke on how even the simplest acts, like opening the door for someone or listening to their story, is a huge help in making the world a better place. Rebecca Welsh, HALO founder, and Jenna Lee concluded the event by sharing with guests the variety of ways they can give and make a difference - through time, talent, and treasure.

Thank you for changing the trajectory of HALO youths lives like Madison and Marjai through your support of HALO!

Have you ever had one of those days where everything seemed to go right for a change? Where your clothes fit perfectly, and your hair seemed to just work. Where everyone was on your side, and you felt like you could take on the world? For our HALO kids, that feeling happens during our "I Defy The Odds" Photoshoot. In the days leading up to the shoot, our staff and volunteers take each participating youth to pick out a new outfit to help them look and feel their very best. We want every moment of the process to make them feel confident and powerful. We want to give them a place to see the greatness in themselves that we see every day.

After we make sure outfits are just right, we make sure our kids feel confident with their hair and makeup, both done professionally. This step couldn't happen without incredibly talented people donating their time to make sure our kids feel stunning.

After that, we leave it up to the expertise of Kenny Johnson Photography who does an incredible job of walking our kids through every step and manages to capture their fierce determination in a truly special way every single time. For most of our kids, these photos are the first time they ever had professional pictures taken. It is often the first time they are ever able to see that fierceness in themselves.

It is a really special experience watching them see a few photos on Kenny's computer and being confident in themselves. Many of them in a whole new way. These photos become something they are so proud of. A moment they want to remember when they felt good about who they are, and confident that they could defy the odds.

Photoshoot day is magical, but the real works of art are the finished photographs. Kenny Johnson Photography is always able to capture the inner fire that drives our HALO kids. Their portraits easily convey the fierceness it has taken to get them to a place where they see a bigger future.

Our kids treasure them, long after their time at HALO is over. We love printing them and hanging them in various HALO locations to remind these kids, and kids that will walk HALO halls after them, that they can defy the odds.

Thank you for believing in our kids. We are so grateful for your support! 

There are a lot of different aspects of HALO. As an organization, we aim to be the foundation of a family for kids around the world who need one. We provide housing, healing, and education to those kids and strive to meet their needs so they can thrive in the future. That looks different for every HALO kid we meet. Because of that, there are a lot of pieces to HALO. We are always thrilled when media outlets see the hope and value of the HALO mission, and choose to feature aspects of what HALO is all about. We are excited to share a few recent pieces that gave HALO a spotlight.

Spotlight #1:

KRCG 13 ran a special, live story on the HALO Boys Program in Jefferson City, and interviewed Founder Rebecca Welsh. One of our favorite clips from the story was about the beginning spark for HALO.

"Welsh said the idea for HALO sparked about two decades ago when she was on a mission trip in Honduras and came across a local six-year-old living on the street.

'Her name was Daisy and she was begging for water and it had stopped me in my tracks. I had never seen anything like it and that was the spark of where HALO came from,' Welsh said."

You can hear more about the beginning of HALO, our Boys Program, and Rebecca's thoughts on childhood trauma and the war oversees on the KRCG website.

Spotlight #2:

Another aspect of HALO, our HALO Makers Program, was featured in FEAST Magazine. HALO Makers is led by Kansas City local interior designer, Julie Arnold. Julie has used her eye for art and design, and knowledge of woodworking to help kids in HALO programs have a creative outlet that builds funding for them to use in the areas of housing, education, and transportation.

The article in FEAST mentioned, "The benefits for these teens are manifold. Not only does the process offer useful life skills, but it also provides a therapeutic distraction from whatever issues are happening at home.

'A lot of them have struggled with homelessness and really terrible situations. It takes them away from things they’re worrying about and different life issues they’re going through,' Arnold says. 'It’s a coping skill for them. Having a chance for them to get out of that environment, come work on the trays and see that the finished product is pretty amazing.'"

Read the rest of the article in FEAST Magazine available at newsstands, or on the FEAST Magazine website.

Thank you for your support and helping one more child spend one less day alone.