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Community News and Updates

What’s going on at A Home Within? Read more about our volunteers, programs, and impact through these selected articles.

On September 16th, we gathered with panelists Michelle Turner, Dr. Jessica Smedley, and Dr. Ben Miller for an informative and timely conversation led by Barker Carlock on Mental Health, Medicaid, and Child Welfare: What’s Working, What’s Changing? Our speakers covered the current state of Medicaid for foster care affected youth and young adults, explored ways to advocate, and reimagined a more holistic future for the mental health of this population.

Don’t Miss Our Next Symposium! September 16

Join us for our next A Home Within Symposium on Wednesday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET. With major Medicaid policy changes, behavioral health investments, and child welfare reforms underway, states are entering a new chapter in supporting children and families. Join us for a cross-state conversation on what’s changing, what’s showing promise, and where the biggest opportunities (and risks) lie for child welfare mental health.

The Relationship is the Medicine

These are bewildering times. It can be hard to know where to offer your heart, and your help. Yet, this very week, hundreds of young people who have experienced foster care will sit down with an A Home Within therapist, some for the first time, some for the thousandth.

Check Out Our Symposium Highlights!

On June 18th, we gathered for our second-ever A Home Within Symposium presented by our Building Practice in Community Program. The inspiring conversation, Visibility, Vulnerability, and Care: Black Men and Mental Health, covered topics from barriers to care, to fatherhood, to broader emotional safety for Black men. Watch the highlight reel for all the best moments!

Vote for AHW in the Target App through June 30

Please help us make the most of this incredible opportunity. Every vote counts to help us receive a portion of the available Target funds to provide free therapy to current and former foster youth.

Coming Up June 18: BPIC Presents | Visibility, Vulnerability, and Care: Black Men and Mental Health

Join us June 18th for this BPIC Presents Symposium hosted by A Home Within for a thoughtful and community-centered conversation exploring Black men’s mental health, Black boyhood, fatherhood, healing, and collective care.

June 5th: Join for Coffee With the ED!

Friday June 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM PST / 12:00 PM EST, A Home Within invites you to stop into our “Coffee with the E.D.” hour on Zoom, where you can hear all the latest AHW updates and get your questions answered! Note: This slot is open to all members of the A Home Within community. We have scheduled separate sessions for our volunteers – though anyone is welcome to attend!

This May: Awareness, Access, and Anecdotes at AHW

May is both Foster Care Awareness Month and Mental Health Awareness Month—two movements that, for us, are deeply intertwined. In every community, young people with lived experience of foster care are navigating trauma, loss, and family disruption, and the many long-term impacts those experiences have on their mental health. And much too often, the systems meant to support them fall short…

Now through April 30th: Anthony Pico’s 37th Birthday Fundraiser

Anthony Pico, A Home Within board member, AHW client, long-time advocate, and a very good friend, has a birthday wish: He wants to raise $37,000 to bring his lifetime fundraising to over $100,000! Donate today!

Coming Up! Telehealth, Interstate Compacts, and the Continued Need for Community

Join us Thursday March 26th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. PST for our first-ever A Home Within Symposium!

Relational Healing and Foster Youth: A Conversation with Candice Simonds, by Arianna Maysonave

“We focus on the relationship as an intervention. It’s the container in which healing, identity, and belonging are restored.” – Candice Simonds. This interview is part of the Nova Institute for Health’s Insight Collaborative for Mental Well-Being project.

The Good News: 2025 Year in Review

A Home Within achieved so much in 2025. We’re thrilled to start the new year by sharing some good news! By offering free, high-quality therapy for as long as it takes, we’re making an enduring commitment to young people who’ve lived through countless traumas, disruptions, and challenges. As our clients so often tell us, the results can be life-changing.

Healing foster youth: today and always

Bright futures begin with hope. Hope starts with us. A special message from Executive Director, Reed Connell about the future of A Home WIthin.

Answering the Call

Watch a client experience video and read a mid-year message from Executive Director, Reed Connell: “In April 2020, I became Executive Director of A Home Within in a time of unprecedented fear, disruption, and loss. We were called upon then, and we’re being called upon now…

Not Goodbye, but Take Care, Grace! 🌞

It’s hard to put into words just how much Grace Manger means to A Home Within! Over the past four and a half years, Grace has brought incredible care, commitment, and thoughtfulness to her role as our National Program Director.

This Spring: A Home Within is Growing! 🌻

Spring is here, and with it comes a season of growth, renewal, and opportunity. Thanks to your support, 2024 was an incredible year. 2025 is off to an amazing start!

‘All I Wanted Is to Be Healed’: Alternatives to Psych Meds for Foster Youth with Mental Health Issues

In California, foster youth need long-term, consistent care. It requires more commitment than simply prescribing medications. Click to read the full article by Sarah Henry on MindSite News.

Los Angeles Wildfire Resource Directory

The following A Home Within therapists have offered slots to someone affected by the fires. Feel free to reach out to each therapist independently. Slots are first-come, first-served.

The Results Are In! 2024 Recap

357 new volunteers, 30 CE events, nearly $300,000 raised – all in our 30th year! Read more about our successes in 2024 and other community updates.

Beyond Therapy: How A Home Within Research Advances Mental Health for Foster Youth

Since our beginnings, A Home Within has maintained a foundational commitment to research. Over two decades ago, we partnered with the Foster Care Research Group at the University of San Francisco to seek learning opportunities from our unique model.

The Best in Human Kindness

As we approach the holiday season, we look ahead to 2025 and prepare to significantly increase our corps of trained volunteers. This year alone, we have grown our programs at three times the rate of previous years! But there is much more work to do. When you support A Home Within, you are supporting the best in human kindness!

A Hope Within

As you know, 2024 is proving to be a pivotal and very exciting time for A Home Within. We’re celebrating our 30th Anniversary by honoring our founders, our traditions, and the tremendous wisdom we’ve gained from three decades of helping foster youth heal and thrive. And with your support, we are building the future.

Our Award for Advancing Minority Health!

This year, A Home Within received an award from the American Psychological Association Foundation for our Building Practice in Community Program. Read on to learn more!

Mid-Year Momentum Builds at A Home Within

Executive Director Reed Connell speaks on A Home Within’s 30th year. Read more to get all of the updates half way through 2024!

Chrissy Tells Us the Story Behind Our Newest A Home Within Chapter!

Chrissy Arlen, Volunteer Engagement Manager, announces plans to launch A Home Within’s first San Luis Obispo Chapter.

California Program Brings Free Teletherapy to Foster Youth with Milder Mental Health Symptoms

With the public mental health care system strained by the pandemic, a new Northern California program aims to serve children least likely to get the help they need — foster youth who are struggling emotionally but not in an apparent crisis.

The Transformational Power of Therapy

“There isn’t a parent out there who doesn’t see the impact of isolation and social disruption on their children. All of us now recognize that every young person needs and deserves support for their mental health,” says Executive Director, Reed Connell.

Forming lasting relationships that change lives

Although it’s been more than 15 years since Mitchell Findley, 34, has been in the foster care system, he is continuing to work through the trauma and emotional struggles that came from facing homelessness and having parents who suffered mental health and substance abuse issues.

AHW Hudson Valley Chapter: Making a Connection and a Difference

“My husband has been a therapist with A Home Within for over 10 years and is now working with his third client. Working with AHW has enriched his life and the lives of his clients. When the former clinical director asked me to take the position because she was retiring, I wanted to be of assistance to this incredible organization,” says Kathy Adorney, former AHW volunteer.

Fostering conversation: Healing through therapy

Anthony Pico speaks to Reed Connell from A Home Within, a national organization that connects current and former foster youth to therapy services.

At a Glance

30,000 hours of free therapy provided each year.

Up to 600,000 youth in foster care nationwide need access to mental healthcare.

650+ therapists in over 30 chapters across the United States.