CWS is helping children and families build safer and brighter futures. As the weather turns colder, we reflect on how to build warmth—through support, protection and empowerment for children in the United States and around the world.
For the protection of each child featured in this story, the above image was generated using artificial intelligence and is intended for illustrative purposes only.
You can feel the rhythm of daily life changing as autumn settles across much of the United States. The air cools, the pace softens, school schedules become routine and there’s a quiet instinct to gather for warmth. It’s a season of hot meals, coats and blankets and places to rest easy.
But for many, the season can feel cold instead of cozy. In the United States and around the world, CWS acts as a source of warmth and light—helping children access safety, protection and a path forward.
Warmth comes from many places. From a warm meal, shared with loved ones. Or a safe place to rest your head. Below are a few snapshots of what warmth has meant in our work supporting children around the world this season.
Warmth comes from feeling safe and secure.
For one unaccompanied child, warmth meant food in the kitchen, a winter coat and a safe place to sleep. She and her guardian were living in an unsafe, dangerous situation. She and her guardian found stabilizing support through CWS. Now, with your help, the essentials of daily life are finally falling into place. Her guardian expressed that the people who helped her child this season were “like angels.”
Warmth comes from feeling healthy and supported.
For a pregnant mother, warmth was nutritious food that helped her and her children recover from anemia after a difficult journey seeking refuge. It was neighbors walking side by side in CROP Hunger Walks across the country, helping to fill food banks and kitchens for families they may never meet but choose to care for all the same. For a parent who couldn’t sleep because of stress, it was accessing critical mental health support that helped improve their sleep and be more present with their kids during the day.
Warmth comes from knowing the future is filled with promise.
For a young mother, warmth was returning to school to support a stronger future for her baby. For a teen, it was seeing his dream of becoming an engineer come within reach after it felt impossible just a year ago. For a family with five children, it was the opportunity for each child to finally enroll in school after months of upheavals and separation. Five backpacks now proudly line the door—emblems of both a reclaimed childhood and a resilient future.
Warmth comes from accessing opportunities and finding passions.
For one child, the chance to play on his school’s soccer team fostered belonging and joy. For his sibling, joining a GED program opened the door to new opportunities. For another high school student, unsure about his options after graduation, a bilingual career assessment helped identify his interests and match him to potential educational and career goals.
The work doesn’t stop when the days grow darker. With your generosity, children are finding safety and comfort in a cold world, families are nourished and young people can imagine a brighter tomorrow.
As we celebrate the holiday season and gather around our tables with friends, family and loved ones, let’s build safety and connection, foster health and support, build the promise of better tomorrows for the next generation and ensure that all children—no matter where they come from—can find safety, happiness and well-being.
Learn more about CWS’s Children’s Services program here, and donate now to support this critical work.
Take action now to urge Congress to protect immigrant children from harmful policies and defend their right to safety and due process.