FY 26
Annual Report
Letter from the Executive Director
Our vision is bold: We imagine a world where no child leaves foster care without the permanent family they deserve.
Yet, we know that many youth face an up-hill battle to experiencing that reality. Older youth, those with disabilities, and children placed in residential settings are among those facing the longest odds to finding permanency.
We've been matching the boldness of our vision with boldness of action. This past year, we've both expanded our current services and launched new initiatives for these specific youth.
We doubled our caseload capacity for serving children with highly specialized medical needs. We expanded our services for young adults still searching for permanency. We extended the reach of our Weekend Family Connections program into broader regions, helping youth in residential settings experience family life.
At the same time, we've kept a record pace in serving youth, families, and our community with our core services. We hosted over 70 events this past year, serving over 1000 individuals. We helped place 248 children this past year - and over fifty of them were teens.
Our vision may be bold, but that doesn't make it fanciful. With your support, we know it's possible one day, one step at a time, for every child to have the permanent family they deserve.
By the Numbers
Serving Youth
Finding Each Other
Audry, Brittany, and Steve's journey to becoming family
Audry had been looking for a permanent family for a while. She just hadn't found the right fit. At a MARE matching event, things changed.
She had just gotten a new hat at the event and but it was too big. Just then, Brittany and Steve Zukowski appeared and offered to help. They tightened it and fit the hat snugly on Audry. It was a small moment of kindness that turned into an hour and half conversation - a discovery of like-minded connection. A fit.
A year and a half on, Audry is a high school senior who enjoys cross country, photography, volunteering, and bonding with the family's three cats. The Zukowskis are no longer strangers meeting for the first time, but a family, recently celebrating Audry's official adoption.
According to Audry, it's a place where she finally feels safe, thanks to "The cats, and actually having weirdos who care."
Making a Difference for Teens
We've stayed focused on creating customized opportunities for teens to find permanent connections. As Audry's story above shows, even simple moments of connection can turn into lifelong relationships.
Our programs and events helped create 57 permanent connections for teens this past year - one of our most effective years ever.
With teens facing steeper odds to finding permanency than any other age group, we celebrate each and every connection made for these youth.
57 Teens Placed
Creating Connections at Events
We hosted 20 matching events for youth and families this past year.
Thoughtfully Designed Events
There is a diverse array of needs and preferences among all the children, teens, families, and social workers we serve. Here are just a few of the unique event styles we plan.
Teen-powered
Teens have told us they want smaller events, with activities designed for their age group and chances to form conversational connections with families. From "teen lounges" to cooking classes, we've customized events just for them.
All Types of Needs
Our events needs to be as diverse as the youth we serve. We've designed many of our events specifically for children and teens with disabilities, creating spaces that are comfortable and engaging for all types of needs.
Curated Interactions
We put intentionality and thought into curating interactions just for the kids coming to our events. From who's at your gaming table, to who you do a scavenger hunt with, we match participants together based on their personalities and strengths.
Bringing Everyone Together
Large events help us bring the many, many different families, social workers, partners, and youth involved in adoption from foster care, from across the state, together.
Events Impact
All of these kinds of events across the state reached hundreds of attendees and resulted in nearly forty permanent connections for children and teens.
Serving Families
Coming Alongside Families
We came alongside families navigating adoption, providing an array of supports to help them on their journey. From new-to-the-process webinars, Q&A panels with experienced families, and specialized trainings around trauma, trans-racial adoption, and more–families gained essential insights to help them on their way to providing permanency.
Outreach to Families of Color
We know overcoming the inequities in child welfare requires sustained partnership with communities of color, which is why we continued to deepen our work with groups like the Divine Nine by hosting the Foster Care and Adoption Symposium. We invite the community to hear from real lived experiences and explore how they might get involved to make a difference for youth in foster care.
45 Years of Wednesday's Child
In 1981, Jack Williams began the "Wednesday's Child" series on WBZ and in partnership with MARE, to help kids in foster care find permanent families. Jack hosted the segment for 34 years, passing the torch to a generation of anchors after him who continued to help youth in foster care. This year Wednesday’s Child celebrates it 45th anniversary.
Jack hosted segments for more than 900 children, including a young man named Tyronne Henderson in 1994. This year, WBZ reconnected with Tyronne as he shared the story of his adoption the impact it made on him.
Compassionate Community in Action
Our community is always on the move! Community members across the state helped spread the word about adoption from foster care and raise support in their local areas.
Walk/Run for Adoption
Marathon
Symposium
Community Awareness Event
Financials
Total Revenue: $XXXX
Pending Finalization
Full Financial Statements, Governing documents and conflict of interest policy available upon request.
Thank you to our supporters!
Recurring Donors
Rebecca Arduino
Teresa Borcuch
Katharine Braun-Levine and Jeff Hall
Jennifer Brodsky
David Carmack
Bridget and David Chiaruttini
Matthew Costigan
Madeleine Currie
Brian and Gail Donovan
Nima and Katharine Eshghi
Meghan and Nate Hamilton
Christine Haverty
Dana and Amanda Lehman
Lisa Lovett and Julie Reuben
Elio Maggini
Charles Musson and Sydney Kirwan
Kate Paradis
Ericc Powell
Andrea Romano
Matthew Scanlon
Jeremy and Abigail Smith
Maria Sweten
$100,000 +
Anonymous Foundation
$50,000 - $99,999
George Frederick Jewett Foundation East
Jordan's Furniture
Liberty Mutual Foundation
The Ludcke Foundation
The Peabody Foundation, Inc.
Kathryn and Alexander Perkins
$25,000 - $49,999
The ALKU Foundation
MA Court Improvement Funds Program
Jack and Marci Williams Endowment for Wednesday's Child
$10,000 - $24,999
Adelaide Breed Bayrd Foundation
Stephen and Wendy Briggs
Grace E. Brooks Trust, Bank of America, N.A., Co-Trustee
Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation
Community Health Systems Foundation
DCU for Kids
Orville W. Forte Charitable Foundation
Gratis Foundation
Greater Worcester Community Foundation
Charles H. Hall Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee
The Hamilton Company Charitable Foundation
Maura and Matt Hodge
James and Donna Newbury
Perpetual Trust For Charitable Giving, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee
Reliant Foundation
Albert Rice Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee
George W. Wells Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee
$5,000 - $9,999
Susan A. and Donald P. Babson Charitable Foundation
Bennett Family Foundation
Bushrod H. Campbell and Adah F. Hall Charity Fund
Community Foundation for MetroWest
Fred Harris Daniels Foundation
Jane and PT Hart
Jason Hayes Foundation
Shawn and Bethanie McNinch
Moderna - Matching Gift Program
Kelli Powell
Gretchen and Benjamin Roin
Shurtleff Children's Services, Inc.
Nathaniel & Elizabeth P. Stevens Foundation
Town Fair Tire Foundation
Anita Treohan
Vertex Pharmaceuticals - Matching Gift Program
$1,000 - $4,999
Rachel Harris and Ken Aspeslagh
Bristol County Savings Bank
Sofie Brooks and Parker Lawrence
Christian Brunet
James and Angela Campbell
Nilito Carlino Foundation
Bridget and David Chiaruttini
Eileen Chiaruttini
Kevin and Jennifer Cotreau
Michelle and James Cuff
Daniel Cullinane and Emily Torres-Cullinane
Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation
Gayane and Thomas Ebling
Timothy and Karen Eisenstadt
Jesse Elton
Florence Electric, LLC
Lisa Funaro and Michael Delalla
Marni Gallagher
Emily and Benjamin Goldberger
Elizabeth Ann Goldstein
Google - Matching Gift Program
Harding Financial & Insurance
Stacy and Jason Hill
Insource Services, Inc.
Layne Jacobs
Kelleen Kiely
Shannon Klinger
KPMG, LLP
Dana and Amanda Lehman
Liberty Mutual - Matching Gift Program
Agnes M. Lindsay Trust
Karen Lostritto
Kevin and Melissa Martin
Chris McCabe
Michael Middleton
Milford Commandery No. 11 Knights Templar of the USA
Mary Moran
John Murphy and Kristin Fraser
Jinnie Reed
Chris and Amy Remondi
Savers Bank
Kevin Stone
TD Charitable Foundation
Nisha Thakrar
Elizabeth and Dan Thompson
Sarah and Mark Williamson
Alice Wright
Tributes, Memorials, and Celebrations
We’d like to express our gratitude to the friends and family members who contributed to MARE’s mission this past year in honor of the following individuals.
In Memory of:
Mary Beth Carmody
Paul Foucher
Matthew Pimentel
In Celebration of:
The marriage of Jackie Ecker and Ken Hutton
The Laing Family’s adoption
