Community Involvement
Charity of the Month: 2018
Whether it is a small non-profit or a worldwide organization, charities are an integral part of every community. Charities change the lives of people (and animals) in need every day with even the smallest of donations making a large impact in a community. We care about our community. That is why we will choose a different charity to donate to every month for the rest of the year. For every client that goes under contract during that month, The Burak Group will donate $250 towards the charity of the month when the transaction closes.
April: Spectrum Youth & Family Services
Founded in 1970, Spectrum is a nationally recognized leader in helping youth ages 12-26 and their families turn their lives around. Each year, we serve 2,000 teenagers, young adults, and their family members.
Our programs for youth are centered in Burlington and St. Albans.
Our Mission & Vision
Our mission is to empower teenagers, young adults, and their families to make and sustain positive changes through prevention, intervention, and life skills services.
- We envision a world where those who face great challenges realize their vast human potential.
- We believe people can change their lives.
- We believe this happens when people find their motivation to change.
- We believe that as people change their lives, the individual, family and community are transformed.
Our History
In 1970, a group of community members wanted to start a shelter to house the growing number of at-risk youth who were running away from foster homes. The Burlington Ecumenical Action Ministry teamed up with this group of concerned citizens to found SHAC, which stood for Shelter Action and later became known as Spectrum Youth & Family Services.
Spectrum has continued to grow and now offers an extensive range of crucial services for youth in our community.
Our Programs
Basic Needs and Supportive Housing: We provide necessities like a warm place to get a meal or do laundry, along with an emergency shelter and longer term transitional housing for homeless or at-risk youth and those in or aging out of foster care.
Skills Programs: We offer coaching and mentoring for young people on basic life and survival skills, such as getting an education, finding and keeping a job, finding a place to live, or getting a driver’s license so that they can transition successfully to adulthood.
Prevention and Intervention: Through counseling, we help young people address substance abuse, mental health issues, patterns of violence, and other critical issues that stand in the way of a happy, thriving adulthood. A mentoring program helps build the self-esteem of youth.
March: All Breed Rescue
All Breed Rescue is a compassionate, non-profit rescue dedicated to saving highly adoptable dogs from high kill shelters and placing them in loving homes in the Northeast.
Established in 1996, All Breed Rescue has rescued over 7,000 dogs from high kill shelters and has grown a vast network of volunteers and fosters in the process. As a compassionate non-profit dog rescue, we work within the community through local schools, colleges and businesses to raise awareness of overpopulation in our country.
As we aim for the future, we look to our community to aid us in saving dogs who are homeless of any breed, size and age through basic training, socializing, networking fostering, adopting and sponsoring. It’s with these actions we are able to place these abandoned dogs in caring fosters and loving homes here in the generous Northeast.
What sets All Breed Rescue apart:
• Well-established, founded in 1996
• 501c3 Non-profit organization
• Licensed with the State of Vermont
• Over 6000 dogs rescued.
