Dear Friend,

As I reflect on this year, I am deeply grateful to Young Center staff. When I started the organization in 2004, I was the only Child Advocate for unaccompanied immigrant children in the country. Today, the Young Center has 73 fierce staff members and more than 750 bilingual Child Advocate volunteers who fight for children's rights. No matter the obstacles thrown at them, our people do not give up. My colleague Olivia Peña put it better than anyone I know: “If the door closes, we’re going to figure out how to get around it and find another door, or we make our own door.” You make it possible to open these doors and today, we can all celebrate the fact that hundreds of children will spend the holidays with their families and not in government custody. I am thankful to you for making this work possible.

Wishing you a happy holiday.

Maria Woltjen
Executive Director