At Mazzoni Center, care doesn’t begin and end at the front doors of our facilities. Especially during the cold days of winter, our Care Services Team is reaching out to the community to provide warmth and comfort to individuals and families in need of a helping hand. This holiday season, with the support of our incredible community, Mazzoni Center made (and is continuing to make) impact in countless ways.

This past November, our Kinky Cupcakes fundraiser resulted in over $3,000 in contributions towards our emergency needs fund, which was used to provide winter coats, space heaters, hygiene supplies, photo ID replacements, and other vital supplies to clients.

As Thanksgiving approached, Mazzoni Center received and distributed over 115 turkeys and chickens provided by our wonderful partners at Philabundance.

As the December holiday season approached, we were grateful for food donations from PECO, Philly Game Shop, Manna, and incredible partners that helped to keep our busy food pantry well-stocked. Through our collaboration with AIDS Fund, we distributed toys to the children of client families, and we purchased coats for 17 children for the winter weather.

We also support clients in knowing their rights about utility shut-offs during the winter season and accessing grants such as LIHEAP in order to maintain access to safe living conditions as a basic human right.

Among our wonderful Mazzoni Center clients is a young Black transwoman who, like many, is working two jobs but still struggling to make ends meet to ensure she has housing and a safe place to prepare herself for work. Mazzoni Center is able to provide her with hygiene items, food for nourishment, and support in applying for grants to ensure she has a credit on her PGW bills to stay warm during the winter.

Another client, a single mother with five children, was thankful when we were able to provide her with a turkey and with coats for her children. We were thrilled to also able to give her a Philly AIDS Thrift store voucher to purchase other winter clothing items for her family. Surprisingly, we had a random donation of an infant chair/swing which we were able to give her for her newborn baby.

Jawana “Jae” Marshall, our Case Management Services Manager said, “Clients across the board have shared their gratitude of the case managers and housing counselors who demonstrate empathy and care for them as a person and a focus on supporting them through tough situations.”

That sense of both appreciation and celebration was evident at our Case Management Community Advisory Board holiday party, where members of our volunteer advisory team expressed their personal gratitude for the Mazzoni Center team and staff gave their appreciation (and even some awards for years of service) to our extraordinary volunteers.