The 2016 First Light Gala Presented will be Saturday, April 16, 2015, at Old Car Heaven. A Magical Evening because magic happens when people get together to make First Light shine. Lisa Moose and Emma Taylor are the co-chairs of this exciting event. There will be great food catered by Happy Catering, live music by StreetKar, silent and live auctions and many novel and entertaining ways to have fun while supporting the only emergency shelter in our community accessible to homeless women and their children 24 hours a day.
First Light’s mission is to provide homeless women and children with hospitality in a safe and nurturing community, to encourage them to maintain dignity, to find hope, to seek opportunity, and to grow spiritually, thereby achieving their full potential.
First Light started as a makeshift shelter in the basement of a church when volunteers would not turn a blind eye to the suffering of women sleeping on the street. First Light became a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization in 1998 and, with the generous support of the community, renovated the old Granada Hotel at 2230 Fourth Avenue North to serve as an emergency shelter for homeless women and children. First Light has also developed permanent supportive housing programs for disabled and chronically homeless women, a transitional supportive housing program for victims of domestic violence, and a new rapid-rehousing program for homeless women with children. Last year 966 homeless women and children found safety, hospitality and hope at First Light.
Volunteers continue to be the light that makes First Light shine. More than 1,000 volunteers donate more than 10,000 hours each year at First Light—dramatically reducing expenses while reassuring guests they are part of a caring community.
First Light is 501(C)3 nonprofit organization and gifts to First Light are tax deductible.
