Thanks to the generosity of over 25 separate groups, businesses, and individuals, Housing Assistance was able to provide gifts to 298 individual clients, including 144 children, this past holiday season. 

“They were giving from their heart,” said Director of Community Engagement and Donor Stewardship Lin Rohr, who helped manage this year’s holiday giving. “It made it the best Christmas I ever had here being able to be a part of that tremendous outpouring of the giving spirit.” 

Several groups were part of longstanding holiday traditions on the Cape, including Michael and Area Princi, who organized their 30th Annual Holiday Gift Basket Drive with 41 of their family, friends, and colleagues joining them in donating over $15,000 in gift cards and cash to our clients who needed it the most. 

At Snow’s Home & Garden in Orleans, Credit Manager Kathy Ponte has overseen the store’s holiday drive for the past 22 years. Their staff and customers donated gift cards that went to 8 teenagers and young adults being served through our Youth Homeless Services Program. 

Of the 26 clients served through that program, one broke down in tears when he received his gifts. “This is a kid who is 18 or 19 years old and in a rough spot,” Rohr said. “Thanks to our donors, our staff was able to make a difference for that day in this young man’s life.” 

Along with gift cards, clients received backpacks with toiletries for teens; winter coats, gloves, boots, sneakers, and clothes for kids; toys, arts and crafts, children’s books, and games; diapers for infants and toddlers; children’s pajamas; and new pillows and linens. They went to individuals who are homeless, families living in our three shelters, families who have recently transitioned out of shelter, families we serve who were struggling with Covid-19, and clients living paycheck to paycheck. 

Over the course of last month, Rohr was struck by the community’s willingness to step up, exemplifying what it means to be a community. She mentioned RISE Engineering in Hyannis, who called and asked, “What can we do?’ I don’t know if they had given before, but they took it on themselves to help,” Rohr said. “The joy I know it brought to those we serve, it was just a powerful experience and wouldn’t have been possible without people’s generosity.” 

A special thanks to our new Director of Community Engagement and Donor Stewardship Lin Rohr for managing our 2021 holiday collection. If you or your organization, civic/community group, faith-based group, or business is interested in organizing a drive to support our clients, please reach out to Lin at lrohr@haconcapecod.org.

Thank you for embracing the holiday spirit!

  • Four Anonymous Donors
  • 22nd Annual Chris Wetherbee Memorial Toy Run
  • Cape & Islands Association of REALTORS
  • Church of the Messiah
  • Cotuit Center for the Arts (David Kuehn, Malcolm Granger, Rich Hill, and Michael Dunford) 
  • Grammies Jammies
  • John Wesley United Methodist Church 
  • KCD Software
  • Lake Isle Wood Neighborhood
  • Our Lady of Victory 
  • Plainville Christian Church
  • Michael and Area Princi Holiday Gift Basket Drive
  • RISE Engineering
  • Scituate Peer Recovery Group
  • Lori Smith & Pine Acres Realty
  • St. John Paul II School (8th graders)
  • St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Osterville
  • St. Vincent de Paul Society
  • Starbucks Hyannis
  • Swift Memorial United Methodist Church in Sagamore Beach
  • Target of Hyannis
  • Unitarian Church of Barnstable 
  • Waquoit Congregational Church 
  • Ron Winner and Friends
  • Women’s Book Club of Orleans