Christmas Comes Early For Youth In Need At Cinnaminson House

Dr. Sara Fonesca first became aware of the Cinnaminson House when she was volunteering, and performing root canal therapy for a resident of the home.

The Cinnaminson House is a residential treatment home that provides homeless youth with an opportunity to practice the skills needed for independent living, according to the program’s website. The program provides life skills training with medium level supervision to offer a balance of independence and supportive care. In this setting, youth may safely learn, grow, make mistakes, and learn more knowing that they have a supportive and caring staff there to help guide their decision making, before leaving the system.

After her initial experience with the home, Fonseca and her family spent the next 10 years bringing fresh baked goods and gifts to the house’s residents on Christmas morning, before opening gifts at their own home.

For the last 15 years, the Moorestown Endodentist has provided $100 gift cards for each of the home’s residents. The home has had up to 13 residents each year.

On one occasion, a resident cried and said “This is the best Christmas gift I’ve ever had in my life.”
Cinnaminson House, located at 2216 Lenola Road in Cinnaminson, empowers young adults by promoting positive, healthy youth development, enhancing daily living and self-sufficiency skills, and fostering responsibility, resiliency, and respect for self and others.

Safe, stable residential services provide the base for individualized programming designed to identify, build upon, promote, and celebrate talents, skills, and positive character traits as well as to address deficits in learning or adolescent development.

The program equips homeless youth who are 16 to 21 years old, with the assets, skills, and resources they will need to find and maintain gainful employment, maintain stable housing, and build healthy relationships, establishing a solid foundation for healthy, independent living.

In the Crossroads Program’s continuum of transitional programs for youth aging out of foster care, Cinnaminson House provides a mid-level of independence with monitoring of activities, employment, and education. These youth typically still need guidance and counseling in their everyday decision making.

Cinnaminson House serves boys and girls who demonstrate the motivation and potential to benefit from independent living services in order to successfully transition to independent young adulthood. Program participants must participate in group activities in the home, must attend a public or an alternative school, and should be working on at least a part-time basis.

Fonesca’s practice, located at 509 South Lenola Road in Moorestown, specializes in root canal therapy. Fonseca has been recognized by the follow publications - New Jersey Monthly - Jersey Choice Top Dentist as chosen by her peers 2016-2013, Philadelphia Magazine 2016 - 2010, Philadelphia Magazine's Best Dentist in the Philadelphia Region 2016 As Chosen By Their Peers, South Jersey Magazine Top Dentist 2016 - 2011, Consumer Research Council of America Excellence - America’s Top Dentist Endodontics 2011- 2016.

The attached image and the information for this story were provided by Scott Aschoff: Featured in the picture on the left is Clifton Richie - Supervisor, Deshawn Halloway, Kwandera Smith, Devin Talavera, Dzmitry Bykav, Jordan Smith, Brandon Mooney, Dr. Sara Fonseca and James Currell.