Hope House Staff

An advocate takes a call on the hotline.
 

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the staff who works at Hope House. When I first meet people and they learn I work at Hope House I often hear, “Oh, isn’t that hard work?” and “How do you do it?"

My response to this question is the staff I work with are the ones who are doing the hard work. Hope House would not be what it is today without the dedication of the individuals who work here.

This work is not easy, that is very true. Direct service staff work long and crazy hours and are confronted with trauma every day. They hear stories from survivors every day that most people would probably never hear in their lifetime.

When you work at Hope House you never know what the day is going to bring or what crisis is around the corner, but the staff take it all in stride. They are gracious and caring and work to ensure that client needs are met. Even those who do not do direct service make a tremendous impact on the lives of the clients. They may not know it, but they do.

I am grateful to all of the staff who is committed to helping our clients and who make Hope House a great place to work. We are able to laugh and have fun, as well as focus on the seriousness of our client’s needs. I consider myself fortunate to have such a wonderful team to work with.

Summer in Shelter

Photo by kevinrohr @ sxc.hu

For those of us in Missouri and most places around the country this has been a scorcher of a summer. We’ve tried hard to make this hot weather as bearable as possible for those who are in shelter. We’re grateful that the air conditioning has worked most of the summer… just one outage for a few hours, and it was fixed immediately.

Besides the heat, what exactly happens around shelter in the summer? The same things that happen at your home in the summer: parents work, some kids go to summer school, and other kids play and enjoy their time off from school.

We strive to make the summer as much fun as possible for the kids staying here. We have water play days where they can run through sprinklers, and play on Slip ‘N’ Slides. They ride their bikes all over the campus.  You can hear them squealing as they see the fish swimming around in the water garden. They even go on field trips. But mostly, they do what kids do everywhere: they have fun.

There are some up sides to being in shelter. There is always someone to play with and always someone to talk to. It seems that boredom isn’t an option for our kids; there are too many things going on and too many fun possibilities.

Kids in shelter also have the opportunity to spend time with the Children’s Therapist. This can be very fun; working through issues and obstacles doesn’t have to be a chore.  It can be done through art and play and is just as therapeutic and long lasting as other traditional forms of therapy. This time with the therapist allows the children time to focus on themselves, and their needs, and to work through the issues of the trauma that has gone on in their lives.

I’m grateful we’re able to provide the children with everything they need so that they can focus on what they need to be doing: just being kids.

Community Partnership Building

We are excited to have our new Community Partnership Building ready to begin offering services to our clients. We renovated the old Therapy building to make space for a medical/dental room and a new salon room.

We have been truly blessed to have so many people offer to help in the past. But it’s been a struggle finding a way to get the clients to the clinic or salon that is offering their services. Transportation and child care are on-going issues that we have had to overcome in order to utilize these donated services.

This new building will allow us to offer these services on-site, thereby eliminating transportation and childcare issues.

So far we have received:

• a dental chair
• an medical exam table
• a grant from KC Impact to purchase the necessary supplies for the medical room
• an X-ray machine
• dental tools
• blood pressure cuffs, stethoscopes, thermometers 
• shampoo sink and chair
• salon chairs
• dryer chair

We are still looking for supplies for our salon room. We are in need of curling irons, hair straighteners, blow dryers, scissors, and products for perms, coloring, etc.

We are interested in working with anyone that is a dentist, doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner, or hair stylist that is interested in coming to our Independence campus to offer services to our clients.

If you know of anyone that might be willing to donate their time and services, please encourage them to contact Gretchen at gschmitz@hopehouse.net or 816-257-9342.

Celebrating Traditions

It is that time of year and everyone is gearing up for the holidays. Our clients have many different traditions this time of year. We work hard to make sure that everyone’s traditions are honored, and they are given the opportunity to celebrate.

We work with clients from all faiths and each has its own unique traditions. We have a committee that works on ensuring the environment at Hope House is representative of who the clients are, and where they come from. At this time of year, we typically celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa.

We are working to educate ourselves on the many other holidays that occur during this season, as well as throughout the year. We welcome information on traditions of which we may not be aware.

Our goal is to be a safe place for people to come and be themselves, and to give them the opportunity to carry on their traditions, or create new ones. We do not have a script of what they should or shouldn’t do, but celebrate with them in the way that makes them most comfortable.

It is a great opportunity for us to learn new beliefs and learn of the experiences our clients have had that have helped shape who they are today. What a gift to be able to do that with our clients and grow with them.

We are looking forward to this most celebrated season and sharing in our clients’ joy of the season - whatever that looks like for them.

Completion of Our Capital Campaign

In December 2009 the Kresge Foundation granted Hope House a $600,000 challenge grant for our Building Hope capital campaign for the construction and renovations to the Independence campus. To qualify for the gift, we had to complete the remaining fundraising for the campaign within one year.

We’re excited to announce that we have successfully satisfied the conditions of the Kresge challenge. This means that we have successfully raised $5,000,000 for our capital campaign and have completed the fundraising portion of the campaign!

The construction on the campus is well underway with the shelter and daycare renovations already completed. Work is underway in the Court and Legal Services Building as well as the Community Partnership Building. The new Therapy building (shown above) has the walls and roof in place so work will not be interrupted with any inclement weather.

Work is progressing along very well and we should be completed with all aspects of the campaign by spring of 2011. We will have a ribbon cutting and grand opening once the work is completed and weather is suitable for an outside gathering.

We are so appreciative of all of the support that we have received from the community that has allowed us to make these improvements so we can continue to provide quality services to our clients.

How You Can Help

When I meet people and they learn I work at Hope House, often the first question asked is “what do you need and how can I help?”

The simple answer is:  there are so many ways! The following list is not exhaustive by any means, but are ideas to get you started.

• Make a donation to Hope House and utilize the tax credits that we have available. Money is our largest and most pressing need.
• Volunteer – help us in the office, with clients, or with special events.
• Organize a drive to replenish our daily living items for 104 in-shelter clients such as paper goods, toiletries, food.
• Collect cell phones and toner cartridges that we can recycle for cash.
• Invite us to your next group meeting so we can let people know about our services and how they can get involved.
• Come for a tour and learn more about what we do and generate interest amongst co-workers and family members.
• Sponsor a Jeans Day at your office.
• Organize an event for us and donate the proceeds to Hope House.

Be creative in your thinking. We are open to new ideas and would love to brainstorm with you. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have questions or ideas on ways to get involved.

Volunteer Appreciation Week is April 18-24, 2010

This week’s guest blogger is Gretchen Hicks, Volunteer Programs Manager for Hope House.

Volunteer Appreciation Week is April 18-24, 2010. If at no other time, this is the time to show your appreciation to volunteers!

Volunteers don't get paid, not because they're worthless, but because they're priceless. ~Sherry Anderson

A statement could not be truer than that. Volunteers are priceless. As the Volunteer Programs Manager at Hope House, I have the pleasure of working with volunteers day-in and day-out. Currently we have 250 volunteers, with an average of 70-90 who volunteer each month. With the help of our volunteers, we are able to accomplish so much more. Their assistance equates to Hope House saving approximately $22,000 a month in personnel costs.

The work we do here, empowering our clients to live a life free of abuse, could not be done without the help of our valued volunteers. Volunteers are here for us rain or shine, snow or ice, helping in a multitude of ways. Volunteers are able to work in any of our programs. Here are a few examples of the things volunteers can do:

• “Reading Reaches”, a program where volunteers read to children in shelter

• Special events

• Assisting in shelter

• Assisting in the Court Advocacy program

• Assisting with BridgeSPAN, our hospital-based advocacy program

• Answering the phones at the front desk of each location

• Administrative assistance

• Speakers bureau / display requests

• Assisting at our safe visitation program

• Working with the children in the Early Childhood Center

• Working in the Hope Street Boutique, which is our clothing closet

• Facilities and maintenance work

And it all begins with just an 8-hour volunteer training class. Those interested in working directly with clients receive a more intensive training. Volunteer trainings are held quarterly. The next one is scheduled for June 2010.

If you’re thinking that you have no special skills to offer, you are wrong! Everyone has something to offer. It’s just a matter of reaching inside yourself and letting it be expressed. Once you find a good cause that you support and believe in, all it takes is the will power to take that first step—you’d be amazed how easily you can become a volunteer. There is nothing better than being there supporting someone else with their needs, knowing you’re making a difference. What a rewarding feeling!

Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something. ~Author Unknown 

If you’re thinking that you have no special skills to offer, you are wrong! Everyone has something to offer. It’s just a matter of reaching inside yourself and letting it be expressed. Once you find a good cause that you support and believe in, all it takes is the will power to take that first step—you’d be amazed how easily you can become a volunteer. There is nothing better than being there supporting someone else with their needs, knowing you’re making a difference. What a rewarding feeling!

I always wondered why “somebody” didn't do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody. ~Lily Tomlin

Be that “somebody”. Ask yourself, “Why haven’t I become a Hope House volunteer?” To find out more, check out our website www.hopehouse.net and click on “Ways to Give”, or you may contact me directly at ghicks@hopehouse.net.