WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As garlands, ornaments, lights and ribbons begin marking the start of another holiday season, Donte Bates is thinking about families who may have a harder time celebrating.
Bates is the co-founder and executive director of Love, Hope & Healing Inc., a West Palm Beach-based nonprofit focused on at-risk, underserved and underrepresented youth and families. The organization says its work centers on wellness, mental health support, mentorship and life skills.
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For Bates, the name captures what he believes people need most.
"We all need love. We're all looking for hope, and we all need healing," Bates said. "And we, as we know, the world, the whole world needs healing right now."
That mission takes on added meaning during the holidays, when Bates says he sees families struggling to afford some of the thing that make the season special.
"Families that's going through these hardships, and now you're coming up to Christmas time when it's supposed to be the happy time festive, and they don't have nothing to eat," Bates said. "The kids can't get the toys that they're looking for. You just can't have some of the things that you actually grew up as a kid loving and looking to wake up to. A lot of parents and a lot of families are not getting it right now."
Bates expects that need to grow.
"I'm pretty sure we're gonna have a lot more people coming and needing the help, and we're already seeing it before we even get to these holiday times of more people needing these resources," he said. "So I'm expecting it to be a huge number this year."
A mission rooted in Bates' own experience
For Bates, keeping young people on the right path is personal.
"I had to go away for two years because I wanted to live the street life, and so I feel like I gave away two years of my life so I could come back and help the kids behind me, not make the mistakes I made and don't go down that road," Bates said. "So the passion behind that is, hey, stay out of the system, stay out of the judicial system, stay out of the cemetery. I want you alive. I want you to be free, and I want them to succeed in life."
The nonprofit's website says Bates and fellow founder Yolanda Bates both grew up in underserved communities. Their experiences helped create a desire to help other families address childhood trauma and generational challenges. Family, unity, education, empowerment and accountability are among the values the organization lists as central to its work.
That work extends well beyond the holidays.
Love, Hope & Healing Inc. has partnered with Palm Beach State College on summer programming that exposes high school students to skilled trades, careers and personal development. It has also offered entrepreneurship programming for young men ages 14 to 18.
But Bates says helping children also means supporting the families they go home to.
"We mainly deal with the young, young men and women, but we can't deal with the young men and women and send them back into a toxic environment," Bates said. "So we actually tackle the parents as well."
He describes that work as an effort to rebuild a support network around those families.
"Our kids definitely need it. Families need it as a whole. We're trying to recreate, no, not recreate, reestablish the village," Bates said. "They all, everybody says it takes a village. We want to reestablish and put a stronghold on that village."
Growing that village
That village now includes volunteers like Christopher Hepburn, CEO and co-founder of a West Palm Beach branding and marketing agency.
Hepburn said he has only been volunteering with the nonprofit for a few months, but its focus on bringing families together connected with his own childhood.
"Wow, it's really the families," Hepburn said. "When I grew up, I didn't really spend some time with my mom and my dad, so to see them putting that together for the families and the kids and seeing everyone come together, that's amazing to me. So yeah, it means everything."
Hepburn has volunteered at events including a father-son grill challenge. Seeing fathers and sons spending time together was especially meaningful to him.
"Oh man, it was amazing," Hepburn said. "Yeah, I didn't really, like I said, I didn't spend that much time with my dad growing up, so to see fathers and sons get together and really just connect and, you know, just love each other, is, it's dope."
For him, the idea behind a Season of Hope can be as simple as making time for one another.
"That just means to me just getting together as a family, talking with each other and really just connecting," Hepburn said.
And he hopes the nonprofit's reach continues growing.
"I hope that it keeps going. I hope that the events get even bigger, get even better," Hepburn said. "I hope that more families get impacted and that it just spreads as fast as it can."
A call for volunteers, mentors and donations
Love, Hope & Healing Inc. is collaborating with United Way of Palm Beach Countysomething Bates believes can broaden the impact organizations have when they work together.
"That's been wonderful with the help we've been getting from United Way and actually coming up under their umbrella now. Their team is awesome. Every step of the way, they've been so helpful. They've been a resource. Anytime you call, they're there to pick up the phone. So it's just been amazing, with just the love they've given our organization and seeing what we're doing in the community and willing to help," said Bates.
The nonprofit is currently seeking volunteers and accepts donations to support its work in the community.
"We're looking for donations. We're looking for volunteers. We're looking for mentors," Bates said. "We're just looking for somebody to get behind us and have a collective impact because is the answer because the kids need it."
And as the holidays approach, Bates has a simple message for families who may be struggling.
"Stay positive," Bates said. "Keep hope alive because help is on the way. We're out here doing it, and we know it's tough, but let's keep pushing through and let's get these resources to them."
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