Louisiana · 2025
54,803Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect received by Louisiana DCFS.
We're raising $1.2 million to build a permanent home for Brooke It Forward.
Brooke It Forward shares the love and hope of Christ through Birthday Boxes. Help create the space to prepare more celebrations for children facing difficult circumstances.
The children behind the need
Behind every statistic is a child with a birthday—a day to feel remembered, valued, and loved.
Louisiana · 2025
54,803Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect received by Louisiana DCFS.
Louisiana · 2025
7,449Children served in foster care statewide during the year.
Covington Region · 2025
958Children served in foster care across the five-parish DCFS Covington Region.
Source: Louisiana DCFS, March 2026 factsheet (calendar year 2025, pp. 1 and 5). Reports are not a count of unique children or confirmed victims. Regional foster care figures are included in the statewide total. The Covington Region includes Livingston, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes.
Brooke It Forward's Birthday Boxes are more than party supplies. In the hands of counselors, advocates, and caregivers, they become tools that support trauma-focused care. Baking a cake together, practicing calming breaths by blowing out a candle, and celebrating a child's individuality create opportunities for connection, sensory engagement, and felt safety—reinforcing the message: You matter. You are loved. You are worth celebrating.
Make Room for Joy will give our volunteers and team the space to prepare more of these meaningful tools—and equip more of the people helping children heal.
Seven years of growing joy
From a kitchen table to more than 4,000 children celebrated, our mission has grown. Our space needs to grow with it.
Children served across South Louisiana to date
Children we are on pace to celebrate in 2026
Our current 1,000-square-foot location has just 600 square feet of open workspace. Supplies fill both offices, leaving no dedicated staff offices and little room to assemble, check, and stage Birthday Boxes.
A larger home will let corporate teams, school groups, and churches volunteer together—and help us reach more children.
Explore the new space
Kitchen table beginnings, then a 300-square-foot space on Rutland, and now our 1,000-square-foot location on Boston Street.
The space to serve more children
Purposeful space for supplies, volunteers, and the team behind every celebration.
Select a view above. Click any image to open it full-size.
Renderings and floor plan are conceptual and subject to change as the design is finalized.
About 3,000 square feet for organizing supplies and assembling, checking, and staging Birthday Boxes.
Room for corporate teams, school groups, and churches to prepare more celebrations together.
About 1,000 square feet for the team coordinating volunteers, agency partnerships, and daily operations.
Efficient work areas and accessible supplies will help us serve more children each year.
The purpose behind the place
Hear from the people who help turn birthday supplies into moments of celebration, connection, and care.
Watch on YouTube · About 4½ minutes
"What is more sensory rich than baking a cake together?"
Our partners bring the relationships and expertise. Brooke It Forward provides the Birthday Boxes that support those moments, and now we need room to prepare more of them.
Joy comes full circle
Allie received Birthday Boxes while in foster care. Today, she volunteers with Brooke It Forward to pass that joy on to someone else.
"Working with Brooke It Forward has brought so much joy into my life, and it's helped me find somewhere I know I'm making a difference in the world."
Your part in the plan
Be part of creating a home for the work behind every Birthday Box.
Every gift brings us closer
58.3% of our goal
$500,883.20 to go. As gifts come in, our candle fills with color.
Updated October 27, 2026.
Check, stock, and NCF giving options · Discuss a pledge
Helps stock supplies for Birthday Boxes headed to children in our partner agencies.
Helps furnish a workstation where volunteers assemble and check Birthday Boxes.
Helps equip dedicated space for group volunteer days.
Lead gifts and naming opportunities. Let's talk about a space that carries your name or honors someone you love.
Brooke It Forward Foundation · EIN: 84-2137707
Brooke It Forward Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please consult your tax advisor.
Please include your contact information for a gift acknowledgment, and let us know if you prefer anonymous recognition.
Talk with Jessica Valladares, Executive Director, or Marie Rudd-Gregory, Founder and Board President, about multi-year pledges, naming opportunities, or a tour of our current space.
Not ready to give yet? Volunteer or offer in-kind support · Get campaign updates
The people helping shape our future
Behind this project are professionals pouring their time, talent, and care into Brooke It Forward's next chapter.
A place to prepare. A place to gather. A place where the next celebration begins.
Give now
