Letting former foster care youth know they belong
“I wish I knew what it would feel like to spend the holidays alone. When you are in foster care, someone has to take you. When you get out, no one does.” -Becky, a former foster care youth at Ready for Life
This powerful insight inspired Ready for Life’s Home for the Holidays Family Tradition. When young adults age out of the foster care system, they face the challenges of adulthood completely alone. While this transition is difficult even with family support, those served by Ready for Life typically have no one by their side.
That’s where Ready for Life comes in, and we need your help.
This year, “The Gift of Choice” means more than presents. Young adults ages 18+ receive stockings filled with gift cards and candy that say, “You belong.” Young parents who once felt this aloneness themselves come to our Skill Center on December 14th & 15th to select gifts for their children, creating the family traditions they never had. With our caring volunteers, they wrap their own gifts, building memories alongside presents, and showing their children what it means to be chosen, celebrated, and loved.
With over one hundred young adults and little ones to serve, Ready for Life can only make this program successful with your support.
Your donation does more than give gifts: it gives belonging. Whether you contribute $25 or $1,000+, you’re telling young adults who’ve known abandonment: “You matter. You’re not alone. You belong to this community.”
Thank you for helping create a true family experience for those who need it most..
How You Can Help
Donate
Purchase Gifts
Volunteer
Shop Five Below, Give Back to Home for the Holidays
November 15-22, 2026 | Five Below in Largo Mall Directions
Ready for Life has partnered with Five Below to make gift-giving easy and meaningful! From November 15th through 22nd, 10% of all purchases at Five Below in Largo will be donated directly to Ready for Life’s Family HOPE Center to support our Home for the Holidays program.
Here’s how you can help:
- Print the fundraiser flyer (available below) and bring it with you when you visit Five Below in Largo.
- Shop for gifts that will bring joy to young adults aging out of foster care and the children they’re raising.
- Drop off the gifts to Ready for Life!
Your purchase has double the impact. Every dollar goes toward filling stockings and empowering families to choose gifts that matter, and helps create a true family experience for those who’ve known what it means to face the holidays alone.
Donate or Sponsor
This holiday season, we’re transforming how our community celebrates together. “Home for the Holidays: The Gift of Choice” gives young adults and families the gift that matters most—choice.
Young adults ages 18+ receive a stocking filled with gift cards and their favorite treats. Parents with children come to our skill center on December 14th & 15th to pick up their own stocking, then “shop” from a curated selection of age and gender-appropriate gifts for their kids. With the help of our caring volunteers, families wrap their own gifts, creating memories alongside presents.
Your donation makes this possible. Whether you contribute $25 or $500+, you’re giving families the freedom to choose gifts that matter to them and the dignity of celebrating together.
When you can’t shop, you can still give—choose your impact level and help us spread the joy of choice this holiday season.
