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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - September 11, 2007
Keely Freeman Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award

September 11, 2007

East Orange, New Jersey Resident Wins Cash Award To Support Self-Sufficiency Program For Homeless Young Women


(New York, NY, September 11, 2007) East Orange, New Jersey resident Keely Freeman, 30, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Keely was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. Keely will apply her award towards supporting Sierra House, a rehabilitative program for homeless young women that offers safe haven while equipping residents with job skills and the life guidance key to achieving self-sufficiency.

Keely Freeman co-founded the Sierra House in 2002 after tragic events exploded in the press concerning the starvation and deaths of children in the area who were under the care of the New Jersey state child protective agency. Keely was compelled to take action to save the young people who were not receiving proper care and attention. The need extended beyond those children whose stories were widely publicized: in the first Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress from Housing and Urban Development (HUD), it was reported that on any given night an estimated 754,000 people are homeless in the United States, a quarter of them children aged 17 or younger. Research confirms that children aging out of the child welfare system, as well as homeless youth, are in desperate need of life skills and stable home environments. These youths, who often do not attend school and are largely unemployed, lack role models from positive family environments, stable employment experiences and the basic skills needed to find a job and build a self-sufficient life.

Keely is committed to serving this vulnerable and extremely difficult-to-reach group. In Keely’s experience, most “safe homes” leave young women displaced and unprepared upon exiting. It is Keely’s mission to provide these young women with job skills, counseling and guidance. Through Sierra House she has dedicated herself to rescuing the lives of at-risk young women, offering critical informative programs and emotional stability, and increasing the educational and career opportunities for this underserved, needy group.

Sierra House aims to equip up to 20 women at a time, ages 16-21, with the necessary tools and life skills needed to survive and thrive beyond subsidized living. Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Keely will be able to renovate the basement and create a true classroom, where the young women residents can experience a proper setting in which to gain job and life skills, and achieve educational goals, including earning high school diplomas (GEDs). It is Keely’s mission that through the teachings and support of Sierra House’s programs, these young women will develop into strong, socially responsible women who can contribute to their communities and achieve independence. By empowering these young women, Keely and Sierra House help break the cycle of homelessness and helplessness for the next generation as well.

Keely’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund fell under the category of “Community Service,” one of three areas the Fund supports. Her proposal met the criteria to clearly present unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including Suze Orman, America’s most recognized expert on personal finance. “Young adults who are exiting from foster care are an underserved, at-risk group,” noted one of the Hello Tomorrow Fund judges. “This proposal could be a model for helping them secure the skills needed to become productive members of the community.”

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