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Hope for Hope Haven
The problem: A tiny, non-profit shelter for abused and neglected children in southern Mississippi needed a larger space. The 1,000 square-foot "summer cottage" the children occupied was over 70 years old, had no insulation, and was way too small to serve the needs of the community. Hope Haven, Inc. had been in operation just three years when it became clear that its shelter was inadequate. The Director of Hope Haven takes up the story:
Hope Haven started up with good intentions and a "shoestring budget" in 1996. Within days of opening our doors, we were turning away children who desperately needed a safe refuge from abuse and neglect. At the end of our first year of operation, we had turned away over 150 local children because we had no room for them.
As the director and manager of the shelter, I lived with two realities: 1) the need for more beds and a better-equipped shelter; and 2) the limited resources available to a new organization in rural Mississippi. I saw an article about AmeriCorps*NCCC in the local paper. I had never heard about the program, but the article explained that in some ways it was modeled after the successful Civilian Conservation Corps initiated during the Depression era. My father worked for the CCC and always spoke highly of it, and how it had saved many families and given so many the dignity of having a meaningful job. I wrote off for the application, and two weeks after receiving it I mailed it in.
We needed a new shelter but we didn't have the money to build what we really needed. However, if I could get some manpower from the AmeriCorps program, we might be able to raise enough funds and donated materials to "make it happen." We were approved for our first AmeriCorps*NCCC team in 1999. I used the AmeriCorps' involvement to the maximum in soliciting donations of funds and materials from the local community. I told community leaders and businesses of our need for a new shelter and how 12 young people from across the country would be arriving in a few months to help build a new shelter for "our" kids. The response was overwhelming. Hope Haven received donations in excess of $1,000,000 toward the new shelter. Local tradesmen responded to the call as well, and we soon had a small list of plumbers, electricians, and builders who volunteered to help.
We started construction of our new shelter complex in the spring of 2000. The first AmeriCorps*NCCC team renovated the existing 1,250 square-foot home and framed an additional 1,250 square-foot addition. They renovated and roofed a 1,000 square-foot garage and a 300 square-foot outbuilding to be used as an office. The temperature soared to l00 degrees plus, with 90 percent humidity, for several weeks during the building. The workdays were long and exhausting, but the spirit of the team never wavered. After seven weeks, I waved goodbye to the AmeriCorps van with mixed feelings. I was overjoyed at all the work that had been done, I had gained a real appreciation for the AmeriCorps program, and I had made friends with the team members. But I was worried about finishing the shelter. As the van drove off, I felt awfully lonely.
Happily, the feeling did not last long. Based on our need and the first team's experience, we were able to arrange for two more teams to come down and help finish the shelter. In total, the AmeriCorps*NCCC teams provided almost 10,000 hours of labor. We now enjoy a shelter complex that has over 4,000 square feet under one roof, with room for up to 15 children. We have a large fenced play area and a wonderful year-round activities hall.
In addition to their building talents, team members worked with the Hope Haven children, providing some much appreciated "0ne-on-one" attention. We also arranged for team members to assist another small nonprofit, Gaits to Success, that provides therapeutic horseback riding for physically disabled children. Team members worked with the children, strung fencing, and repaired and painted buildings. The last team, which left in March 2002, finished off our 2,000 square-foot recreation hall and worked for several other local agencies that also serve children.
During the time they were here, AmeriCorps team members became part of "our town" and part of "our organization." They brought youth and commitment and hope with them when they arrived, not just hammers and hardhats. They served as examples to our locals, who responded by becoming more involved in the concerns and problems within our community. Through extensive media exposure, the philosophy of the AmeriCorps program and the individual stories of AmeriCorps*NCCC team members played out on local TV screens, on local radio stations, and in local papers. And the interest was not just about the program but about why the team members joined AmeriCorps and how working with the different sponsoring agencies had affected them.
Lastly, from personal experience, I know that individual AmeriCorps team members came to learn about the serious issues involved with child abuse and neglect and about the often taxed "system" that is in place to care for these children. Team members gained insight into the difficulties of running a small non-profit and running an emergency shelter for abused children. They held children in their arms who had been raped, sodomized, and beaten. They played games with children who had never received any attention, never received praise or a kind word. They walked beside paralyzed children on horseback and witnessed the thrill of seeing children accomplish something they never thought they could do. AmeriCorps*NCCC team members tutored boys and girls not much younger than themselves who could not read. They met many dedicated professionals and volunteers who work in the human service sector and are striving to make their little corner of the world just a little bit better than what it is. And they took all they learned with them. In short, AmeriCorps worked for all of us. |
