What We Do

Hearthstone builds a better world one kid at a time by providing unique opportunities for youth to develop new skills, which results in improved management of their thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

Our youth receive family care at six Hearthstone homes located in residential neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Many Hearthstone youth are wards of the state or have been determined to be in need of long-term care, and will remain in Hearthstone’s care for the remainder of their childhood. Hearthstone youth are of diverse heritage: African-American (53%); Caucasian (30%); Hispanic (8%); Native American (5%); Asian (2%); and Bi-racial (2%).

Children come to Hearthstone with a variety of severe emotional and behavioral issues stemming from family backgrounds of abuse, neglect, mental illness, chemical dependency, and poverty. These youth have simply not had sufficient opportunities to develop the relationships and life skills they need to navigate successfully in adulthood. Instead, they have often adopted destructive behaviors that significantly interfere with the safety and well-being of themselves and others. Their experiences have often left them feeling intensely frustrated, confused, and angry.

Without the care and specialized services provided by Hearthstone, our youth are at paramount risk of homelessness, substance addictions, educational failure, unemployment, and criminal activity.

Many of our youth make significant positive changes while at Hearthstone. Despite their accomplishments, most of our youth leave at age 18 or 19 without a positive adult connection to help support and mentor them. To support this group of youth as they begin their journey into adulthood, we have developed our own aftercare services.