We Need Used Clothing. Recylce Yours Here.

We need used clothing. Can you help?

At the Hope for Healing.Org mission center there is 3 separate things that we do with used clothing.

#1 - We give used clothing for free upon referral to those who need it. Beneficiaries have been victims of domestic violence, homeless and people who are in a chronic poverty situation.

#2 - Some used clothing is sold in our eBay store periodically or at one of our yard sale fundraisers. The url is http://stores.ebay.com/hopeforhealingorg Proceeds help us pay expenses (like rent which we always need help with).

#3 - Used clothing that is not usable or overstock is sold at a low bulk rate. This helps with expenses. The used clothing is then distributed on a secondary market. Much of it goes to 3rd world countries to provide affordable clothing. Some of these places include Belize, Haiti and African nations.

Clothing may be brought to the mission center at any time. If we are open, we will gladly take it and help you unload it. On sunny days, it may be left on the front porch.

The very best day to drop off used clothing is on Saturdays. This is when we usually have help to unload your vehicle. We do not have paid staff at the Hope for Healing.Org mission center. Everyone here helps because they want to make a difference. Saturdays seem to be the days that most people have free.

In addition to used clothing, we also accept used shoes (no high heels or boots), purses, belts, baseball caps and the like. These are very important for developing countries. Pumps and shoes with heels are not accepted. There is very little use for these items in the rain forest or on dirt roads.

If you are in the area, please come by and see us. We will happily show you around and answer questions about our program. Speakers are available for your next group event. Just contact us. We'll be glad to set it up.

Please bring used clothing to our mission center at 3130 W. Old Andrew Johnson Hwy., Strawberry Plains, TN 37871. For more information email admin@hopeforhealing.org

We thank you and our clients thank you for your used clothing help!

Getting the Clothing Closet Ready for Spring

Saturday was spent getting the clothing closet ready for spring. We had two juvenile offenders and one of our teen volunteers stopped by. It was a great day. (Although we sure will be glad when the weather warms up. )

The guys who came to help had great attitudes. They pitched in without a complaint. They sanded a table with so much gusto that we were momentarily afraid it was going to be turned into sawdust. We don't see that much enthusiasm too often.

I can't wait until they come back to paint it. My hunch is that they can't wait either.

If you have time on Saturdays we welcome volunteers. Call us to learn how you can make a difference.

Need Christmas Toys? Clothes? Strawberry Plains Charity May Be Able to Help

If you are having a hard time this Christmas? Hope for Healing.Org in Strawberry Plains may be able to help.

Some Christmas toys are still available from our location in downtown Strawberry Plains. Items will be freely given to those in need on Wednesday. There is no charge. You will need an appointment. This is available to current clients and residents of the 37871 zip code, in Strawberry Plains and also to those living in the Carter community. Residents of zip codes adjacent to 37871 will also be considered.

Please bring a bill, referral or other proof of residency. If you do not have a Christmas toy or if you need clothing you are welcome to come.

Email gayle@hopeforhealing.org for an appointment or call 964.6673. All items are limited to stock on hand and are available on a first come first served basis. We do not guarantee that something will be available for your child although we will do our best. To receive, you must call or email for an appointment first.

All items are given in the name of Jesus. Please have a merry Christmas.

Hope for Healing.Org is a 501c3 nonprofit charity. The organization maintains a limited food pantry, community clothing closet and distributes free household items upon a referral basis. We also work with victims of domestic and sexual violence, distribute Angel Food and restore the lives of juvenile offenders. Plus, we maintain the largest website on the internet so survivors can have 24/7 access to information and support via our list serves.

Volunteers are needed in many program areas. Do you have a couple of hours a month that you could help? Are you interested in encouraging others? If so, contact us. Training is free. The need is great. The time commitment is minimal. We'd love you have you. Stop by or call our office in Strawberry Plains today.

Free Clothing, Food

With school starting many families are facing a real crunch. At Hope for Healing.Org, we'd like to help.

If you are in the Strawberry Plains zip code, or if you attend a school we serve, you may come by our shop and pick up some clothing for school during our normal school hours on Thursday and Friday. It's based out of stock on hand. Sizes cannot be guaranteed.

To qualify, all we need is a referral. This can be a note from your pastor, shelter, advocate, a teacher, case manager, social worker etc. It doesn't have to be on letterhead but does need to have a verifying phone number. The note needs to say that you meet the above guidelines and that you need clothes.

Schools served include:
Carter Elementary
Carter Middle
Carter High
Rush Strong School

We also maintain a small food pantry. Food boxes are available during the clothing and shop hours.

For questions please call 865.933.8769 or email hopeinfo@hopeforhealing.org

Donations of clothing and food are accepted during the operating hours of 11:00-3:00 Tues - Sat.Please bring them to the thrift shop. We'll be glad to help you unload. A tax receipt can be provided.

We're getting a van! Thanks First Baptist Church!

This is a huge step forward for us!

We have needed a cargo van for awhile. One recently came up for sale. The owner adjusted the price but it was still out of reach. Who came to our rescue? None other than First Baptist Church of Strawberry Plains!

There is some work to be done to it. (Know anyone who does brakes?) It will be a bit before we can get it on the road. But, we're grateful to have it and grateful to have the support.

Look for us to be on the road as soon as we can. We'll be zipping along the roads to pick up your used clothing and collections of aluminum cans, phones and other recyclables.

Thanks again First Baptist Church of Strawberry Plains!

Can your church host a clothing drive for us?

Hope for Healing.Org - the only 501c3 nonprofit serving all of Strawberry Plains, TN needs churches willing to host a used clothing drive. Can you organize a drive in your church?

Helping is simple. Designate a Sunday in your church to "make hope happen". Ask members to bring in a bag of used clothing they no longer need. (Let us know what date you choose so we can be there with a truck!) As your members arrive they simply put the bags in the truck and we take care of the rest! Helpling load the truck is also a great project for youth group members!

Hope for Healing.Org works with victims of domestic violence, distributes Angel Food and works with juvenile offenders. We also meet other needs on a case-by-case basis and maintain a small thrift shop. Last fiscal year, our free community clothing closet was accessed over 1000 times!

Clothing not put to use in Strawberry Plains is sold to a recycler at a per pound rate. Then it is either recycled or sent to third world countries to make affordable clothing available there. (The last load went to Haiti!) Funds generated go into the general operating fund of Hope for Healing.Org which helps support all of our programs.

Can your group help? We hope so. If you can host a drive please let us know by emailling gayle@hopeforhealing.org or calling our office at 865.933.8769. We'll be glad to hear from you.

Thanks for helping us make hope happen for others!

A Broken Smile

The little boy that came in with his new foster mom was about 4. He arrived at his new home with baggage that you can't put in a suitcase and without clothes. So, she visited us.

He's an adorable little boy but we noticed right away that he didn't smile. He played quietly and didn't talk. There was none of the rambunctious activity that you expect from a little boy this age.

Our youth director showed him a whole basket of cars and told him to pick some out to keep. He solemnly picked out a few and began playing on the floor. No noise. I gathered a few things which included a couple of handmade blankets from our friends at the Linus Project. After watching him and speaking with his foster mom I bent down and asked if he would like a blanket. I explained that it was brand new and made just for him. I also told him that it would be his own to keep for as long as he wanted.

He looked up at me and seemed interested but made no move. I asked if he liked purple or red like fire engines. He softly whispered that he liked red so I gave him that one. He sat there, on the floor holding the blanket and then put his new cars on top of it.

I told him it was nice to meet him and I hoped he would have lots of fun playing with the new cars and the blanket. Still no smile and no laughter. I asked if he was sure he liked the cars and that would could find something else if he didn't. (We would have given him the moon if he'd of said he liked that better!) He very slowly picked up a car and said that he did like them. I said that was great and that they were his very own cars to play with and keep. He seemed to like that.

Then, I asked if his smile was just broken today. He looked at me with those sad little eyes and slowly nodded his head "Yes".

I told him that it was ok to be sad sometimes and that maybe, with lots of love from people who this he's great, maybe we could fix his smile so it wouldn't be broken anymore. I asked how that sounded and if he thought that maybe someday his little smile would be fixed.

He looked up at me and slowly this four-year old shook his head "No."

He left clutching the blanket and with a new backback on his shoulders that contained all the toys and cars our youth director could fit into it, the clothes he and his new foster mom had come for and with our hearts wrapped around his finger - and his smile still broken.

Salem Baptist Church Youth Made Hope Happen!

Is that our clothing closet? You can see the floor. Everything is neatly folded or placed on hangers.

No, it wasn't a dream. It was the result of some TLC from the youth of Salem Baptist Church. Twenty-one students plus chaperones converged on our ministry Saturday. We appreciate the Knoxville Leadership Foundation for sending them our way. They whisked the clothing closet into shape, sorted out the fall/winter clothes and put out the spring items.

In record time the kids sorted the ink jet cartridges & cell phones, repackaged the Mardi Gras decorations, folded a few hundred brochures and helped out in the food pantry of Strawberry Plains United Methodist Church.

What an impressive group of teens!

As a suprise appreciation, each person received a free mini-golf pass from Zuma Fun Center in Knoxville. They instantly started making plans on when to put these to use.

Many thanks to the youth group of Salem Baptist Church for making hope happen in Strawberry Plains. We hope you have a great time using those passes! Thank you also to Zuma Fun Center for allowing us to have those incentives.

Year End Client Totals

We knew we picked up a few additional clients this year. We didn't know how many until now. Are you sitting down? If not, please do.

In 2005 we served 50 local clients. BUT in 2006 we served the following:

Angel Food - 163 individual familes feeding a total of 652 people!
Clothing Closet - 260 individual families for a total of 327* who received clothing. (*Some familes came in the winter and returned for spring clothes.)
Domestic Violence - 30 victims with 13 children.
Restorative Justice - 5 teens served court-ordered community service. (Most of the teens have served volunteer hours. One is now volunteering with his family!)

Plus all of the great online services that we offer!

This is why we do what we do. Thank you so much for making hope happen for the online world and for the local clients that we serve.

See ya online,
Gayle

PS. Additionally, we gave away 28 Bibles, served 2 homeless families and partnered with:

• Strawberry Plains United Methodist Church to provide food pantry boxes, gasoline and bill assistance.
• Strawberry Plains Presbyterian Church to provide Thanksgiving Baskets.
• Child and Family Services to provide parenting classes.
• First Baptist Church of Strawberry Plains to provide assistance for a teenage rape victim (who won her case!).
• I also served as a prayer counselor at A Queen's Banquet held by Stepping Out Ministries (with an attendance of 1,100 women) spoke to groups, gave out Christmas toys and offered the Hope of Christ to all who entered in.

All in all, it's been a busy year! I can't wait to see what 2007 has in store for us. Can you? :-)

A Christmas Present For Us!

Many thanks to Sign Enterprises and Design for the donation
of our new clothing closet sign!

As you can see it's already working to let people know our hours!
Other times are available by appointment. We appreciate Patrick
and his family for all of the help they've given us.

We couldn't do what we do without the help of terrific people like you!

Thank you all!