For 30 years, The Christmas Box International has stood beside Utah’s most vulnerable children and young adults — ensuring they are seen, protected, and cared for with dignity during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. What began as a single act of compassion has grown into a legacy of hope that now serves thousands each year across Utah and around the world.
The Christmas Box House Emergency Shelters
The Christmas Box House Emergency Shelters were created and built by The Christmas Box International to partner with Utah’s state and county child-welfare agencies. These houses provide immediate emergency shelter for children who must be removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, trafficking, or homelessness.
Here, children receive far more than a temporary bed. They are welcomed with warmth, stability, medical and therapeutic care, educational support, healthy meals, and the simple comfort of being able to feel safe. Thoughtful touches throughout the facility — like book nooks filled with new books and blanket rooms stocked with soft, cozy blankets — help restore a sense of calm during frightening and uncertain times.
In the past year alone, 810 children were supported in our shelters across Utah. Across all locations, an average of 39 sibling groups are served each month — meaning nearly 1,000 brothers and sisters each year are able to stay together rather than being separated during a crisis. The Houses also care for children with complex medical, emotional, or behavioral needs until a safe and appropriate placement can be secured.
Because every child deserves safety. Every child deserves dignity. Every child deserves love. Every child deserves a childhood.
Christmas Box Resource Rooms
Our commitment continues through twenty-three Christmas Box Resource Rooms, serving 22 Utah counties and partnering with more than 123 child-welfare agencies and children’s organizations. Each Resource Room is stocked with new, donated, essential items — clothing, shoes, baby supplies, school supplies, and hygiene kits— so no child or young adult must go without the basics during crisis or transition.
These resources support children staying at the Christmas Box Houses, foster care youth, youth aging out of care, children receiving state in-home services, and children being raised by relatives. In the past year, our Utah Resource Rooms supported 2,214 children and young adults, helping ease the financial burden on foster and kinship families and at-risk youth taking their first independent steps into adulthood.
Teens Transitioning to Adult Living
The Teens Transitioning to Adult Living (TTAL) program continues our 30-year legacy by supporting vulnerable young adults ages 14–22 who are aging out of foster care or experiencing homelessness. Many are stepping into adulthood alone — without family support or safety nets.
The TTAL program helps bridge that gap by connecting youth to essential community resources, providing move-in kits for their first apartments, and offering opportunities for recreation and youth leadership that build confidence, life skills, and healthy peer connections. Our goal is simple — and deeply important:
No young person should have to face adulthood alone.
Project Elf
Each holiday season, Project Elf helps “stock Santa’s sleigh” for children, teens, and young adults experiencing abuse, neglect, or homelessness. The items collected not only brighten Christmas — they also help stock our Resource Rooms for months to come, ensuring continued access to essentials year-round.
Project Elf also brings communities together in the spirit of giving. Businesses, families, neighborhoods, schools, scouts, faith groups, and individuals unite to show children that kindness is real — and so is hope.
