Youth can come to Bethany for a variety of reasons, and not a single story is exactly the same. Many youth who come to Bethany have experienced some form of trauma, whether that be homelessness, physical and/or sexual abuse, trafficking or neglect. At Bethany, we strive to give youth the resources they need to overcome and continue to grow in their journey.

One challenge at Bethany is the holiday season. Many youth, especially those who are new to Bethany, dread the holidays, particularly Christmas. Some youth do not have any family they can return to over the holidays, so they spend their Christmas in the cottages on the Bethany campus.

At Christmastime, you can find the youth participating in Christmas-themed groups including a holiday parranda, baking, and eating Christmas cookies, and you can find the cottages competing head-to-head on who has the best decorated cottage. They also enjoy getting dressed up for the annual Christmas Formal.

Every year, the youth at Bethany are asked to make a Christmas wish list, and generous donors make sure each youth receives gifts they asked for. Joanna said she will never forget when one youth only wrote down two items because he did not feel he was deserving of gifts and he didn’t want to seem too greedy. She said the hardest time was when one youth asked for a family.

Cottage Life team members hide the youths’ gifts until Christmas morning. Many of the youth have never experienced a holiday before; they only know what they’ve seen on TV.

Christmastime is something we pride ourselves on making special for the youth at Bethany. Thank you to our generous donors, volunteers, and team members who make sure that we can make Christmas special at Bethany.

Please consider supporting Bethany this Christmas season with a monetary donation or purchasing items off our Christmas Wish List.

Christmas 2025