Greetings, friends of Turtle Nest Village.
My name is Mary Martin and I am the Interim Executive Director of Turtle Nest Village as well as past Chair of the Board and board member since 2002.
As you may know, when Turtle Nest Village came on the scene over eight years ago, there were no other housing programs in our area for youth coming out of foster care. We were the only organization in Palm Beach County addressing the housing needs of emancipated foster youth. Since then, we helped our community mobilize to care about these young people and we even motivated other organizations to expand their programs to include these young people.
We couldn’t have helped make all that happen without your support.
The reason for this message is to thank you for your support and to inform you that we will be closing our doors at the end of October because the economic downturn and changes in giving have affected our fundraising efforts. The good news is that we have been working closely with Child and Family Connections (CFC), the lead agency for community-based care in Palm Beach County, as well as with Vita Nova, Crossroads and Villages of Hope, who serve former foster youth, to make sure each of the young people currently in our program has their unique needs met. Whether they are going to another program, or out on their own, they will do so with a plan and with some financial assistance.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at 561-314-1493.
On behalf of the nearly 100 young people we helped transition to adulthood and the Board of Directors, thank you.
Kind regards,
Mary Martin, PhD
