Hope Youth 2009 Achievements on You Tube

In addition to our work online, local services are offered in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. Hope Youth are kids who come to us to do community service who stay on as volunteers or they are kids who want to make a difference in their community. Strawberry Plains, Tennessee is a rural area outside of Knoxville in Jefferson County. A slideshow is on the player on the right of the screen.



The kids who we work with in Strawberry Plains range from high functioning scholars at the top of their high school class to kids who can barely read. Some come to us from Appalachian type of settings with a poverty mindset. Others come to us from Knoxville with different cultural backgrounds.

Hope for Healing.Org is a Christian organization. We give out Bibles when requested and answer questions about Christianity. It is ever our goal to interfere with the cultural or religious background of the individual in Strawberry Plains or online. Our desire is to foster an atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect.

The kids seem to enjoy their time at Hope for Healing.Org and learn life-changing skills. We think that's pretty cool. How about you?

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A Client Request

We got a request today for a dresser and chest of drawers. A client was burned out of her home. Officially, Hope for Healing.Org has no base of operations. Because of a boatload of problems with the building and affordability we closed the mission center a few weeks ago. This has not stopped the calls from coming in for both household items and grocery help.

If you have a dresser and chest of drawers that you no longer want please let me know. Another client is in need of a stove and a refrigerator. Another client needed a bag of groceries but we were able to help with that.

What we can use most of anything is a new home. If your church has space and can sponsor an office for us please let us know. If your church has space for a ministry center that would be even better.

Thank you in advance for your help. You information can help our ministry center find a new  home and help change lives.

We've Moved. The Old Buildings Are Vacated

Hope for Healing.org has moved. The old buildings are vacated and we are gone. After getting everything out it seems to have been a wise decision. The 100 year-old buildings just aren't what they used to be. On the last day our a/c froze up (again) leaving us in a very warm climate.
We are hoping to find another building in the area. Hopefully, one with heat, air conditiong and hot water. If you know of one that can be donated or is available at a reasonable price please contact us. We would be glad to hear from you.
Until then, our services for clothing, Angel Food and youth will be put on hold.
Support to victims of domestic violence, clergy training, education, outreach displays and online services will be increased. Volunteers who can help with outreach displays are always welcome. If you have time and would like to volunteer please contact us.
Search to stop domestic violence. Use isearchigive today.

Learn More About Hope for Healing.org on Twitter.

Do you want to know how our move is going? Are you wondering where we will be next? Are you wanting to find out who is going to be on the Voices of Hope Blog Talk Radio show?
Following The Hope Blog is great. For up to the minute information you want to follow our executive director on Twitter.
That's right. Gayle has her ownTwitter account. As of today, she has over 600 followers. Are yo one of them? Go to www.twitter.com/gaylesglimpes to sign up. Twitter is a free service. Why not start following Gayle today?
Then, you'll be up to date on everything going on at Hope for Healing.Org.
Speaking of updates, there goes another box. I better get to loading the moving truck...
Make your searches count.isearchigive Click here to help victims.

Ministry Center Move Going Well

The move over here is going well. We have several volunteers who have pitched in to help. As I write this we have a couple of people in each building. The big truck is being filled and the trash is being bagged.

To say that we couldn't do it without everyone is an understatement. Boy! Do I ever appreciate all of these hands!

Gotta run, boxes are flying.

See you in a bit,

Gayle

Thanks for Stopping By the Ministry Center

We very much appreciated everyone who has stopped by today and yesterday. Most everyone who has come in has been passionate about our ministry needing to stay in Strawberry Plains. This won't help us with the landlord but it does help us feel better.

Our hope is to be able to find a location within Strawberry Plains. To do that we need your help. If you hear of someplace that is affordable please let us know. Tell your friends and neighbors and get them involved in our struggle.

Hope for Healing.org is the only social service agency that helps all of the 37871, Strawberry Plains zip code. To us, it does not matter which county you are in. We only care that you are a person who needs the services we can offer.

Our services include:

Assistance to Victims of Domestic Violence (hence the blogathon)
Restorative Justice for juvenile offenders
Hope Youth for At-Risk Youth
Food Pantry
Angel Food Distribution
Free Clothing
Free Household Items
Referrals
Crisis Stabilization
Domestic Violence Training and victim support
Homeless referrals
Other needs may be met on a case-by-case basis.

The people who receive these services know how badly they are needed.

Also, last year Hope for Healing.org gave out almost 30 Bibles. Can you imagine being in middle school and being the only person in your home who reads a Bible? The girl was upset when hers was lost during the many moves she had to make with her family. When we gave her a Bible she got excited, gave us a hug and said

"I love church Bibles most of all!"

You made it possible for her to have that Bible. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now, if you don't mind, could you help us look for a place to relocate? This will help us continue to help students like this one have what they need.

Moving the Ministry of Hope for Healing.Org

People are asking about the move we are doing today. (Yes, on top of the blogathon we are moving!) Everyone is asking where we are going. The truth is that we don't have a location yet. Our fondest hope is to remain in the local Strawberry Plains community.

We are actively looking for a building or place that we can rent or get donated. The current situation is no longer conducive to a productive business environment. The 100 year old buildings simply have too much work to be done to them.

Last week, the window in one of the buildings fell in. Then, there was the lady who came into the ministry center and handed us the doorknob. There have also been other occurrences. We have no air conditioning in one building and no heat in either. There also appears to be little if any insulation.

We knew about the heat and AC when we rented the buildings. We did not know the landlord had zero intentions of doing needed repairs to keep the buildings usable. To us, the building problems seem to go well beyond general maintainence issues.

On Friday, I posted an article with more information about the buildings. That link is here. It outlines a little more of what we are dealing with.

Moving the Ministry Center

Hope for Healing.org is moving the ministry center. The buildings we are currently in are approximately 100 years. They have not been kept up well and are not secure. In addition to problems earlier this year (water damage and electricity) there have been numerous other building upkeeep issues.
Our last day is going to be today. Tomorrow, we will begin the process of moving out. We are hoping for a one day completion.
Last year, we served many clients in the Strawberry Plains area. Our ministry center is searching for new space but affordability is an issue. As you can imagine, victims of domestic violence and people who need free clothing or food are unable to contribute to the upkeep of the ministry. We have no paid staff and run fully on the generosity of volunteers and we fully appreciate their generosity!
We hope to have word on a new home soon. As soon as we have more details they will be posted here.
For up to the minute updates follow us on Twitter.

About the Ministry Center

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People sometimes ask me what we do at the ministry center. The short answer is yes because that's the word we try to use most often. I can best explain by telling you about this past Saturday. This was a random busy day for us at Hope for Healing.Org.

It was the last day that the kids on the stimulus grant were working. One of these kids came to us in 2005 as a juvenile offender. This year he came as an employee. That's how much his life has been changed. The next two kids that are working for us both have learning issues. They all suffer from a lack of confidence but did very well with us.

You've already seen some of the furniture that they learned how to make. We do these things with the juvenile offenders that serve their community service with us. The parent of one of the kids that we worked with stopped by on Saturday. She wanted to let us know that her child was promoted to the next grade. According to her, we're responsible for encouraging her student to stay in school. That news made my day.

We worked out a trade with the homeless shelter in New Market. They came and got most of our knick-knacks. In return, they're bringing us more ladies clothing to give away. It was a good thing too. With school about to start clothing is on the minds of many.

After they left, our summer youth coordinator was able to pull some things together for an outreach event that's coming up. We'll be at Calling All Men in Sevierville on August 7 & 8. It's up to her to help get the display ready. She's doing a great job with it! It's basically the same display that we took to the Jesus in the Park event except with more information about us.

Later in the afternoon a woman stopped in with her kids. She's a former victim of domestic violence and is relearning how to live her life. The problem is that she has no dishes, clothing, pots or pans and is without a bedframe or other furniture pieces. That is, she was without until she came to us. Now she has clothes and a few dishes. Her kids have a couple of toys each. If we can find someone with a truck she'll have a couple of pieces of furniture.

After she left we started helping one of our stimulus kids. When she first came she said that she didn't paint. She also didn't seem to be very interested in learning. Somewhere along the way that changed. She is now painting a table to give to the daughter of her friend. It's a cute table. I am positive that the little girl is going to love it!

By this time it was 7pm. Gayle's husband called to remind her about dinner and coming home. It was time to pack up. Before that happened there was a little more work to do.

Just as Gayle and Allie were beginning to leave a guy in a pick-up truck stopped. He says he is living out of his car. The inside of the car looked the part. Problem is that the man has no food. Could we help him out with a box from our food pantry? Sure. Plus, we had a couple of bottles of water and some canned sodas. It wasn't much but he seemed grateful.

As we were leaving a lady was putting her newspapers in the dumpster. We thanked her for that. The newspaper and cardboard helps. We don't get much but it all adds up.

Also on Saturday we had some very generous donors stop by. Without them we would be lost. We do ask for a donation when people get items but that doesn't happen very often. We genuinely appreciate all of the support we get. Whether you are supporting us on the internet or dropping off at our ministry center we appreciate it.

When we're not busy at the center we're answering email, updating the blog, working on the website or trying to stay afloat financially. There's plenty to do. Volunteers are always welcome. I hope this answers about what we do. If not, leave a comment to let us know. We always like hearing from you at Hope for Healing.Org.

Here are some photos of the ministry center. The kids recreated the table and the other furniture pieces that you see. We're proud of them at Hope for Healing.Org!

Stimulus Funds Put Students to Work

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Greetings from Allie. Today was a good day at the ministry center. Through an employment program at a local college, we have three new staff members on board, two of which have been volunteering with us for at least two years. We will be getting a fourth person starting tomorrow. Yesterday, we received a fair amount of donated items and spent today sorting those, as well as finishing a woven-bottom chair. It's quite pretty; one of our new staff members worked on it and did very well with it. Tomorrow, more cleaning and sorting, and maybe some braided rug making! I'm looking forward to it!

A Great Day for Ministry

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It's a great day for ministry. The sky is clear and the sun is shining. We have some junior volunteers lined up to help today. It's going to be great. The kids have so much enthusiasm! We are going to be doing some weaving in between helping people and processing donations. I can't wait to get started!

Gayle

Hope for Healing.Org Ministry Center A Day in Our Life

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Today was a busy day at the Hope for Healing.Org Mission Center. I can already tell that our new intern is going to be great. She dived into the pile of donated clothing like a pro. Look for her to be a guest blogger here and helping with online activities in addition to being at the Hope for Healing.Org Mission Center.

While she was working with the clothing a teen volunteer was busy too. He was helping with the weed eating and trash run. Facilitating the trash run was help from another adult volunteer.

Another teen volunteer came by with her mom to talk for a minute. A lady came by to bring newspapers for the dumpster and another lady stopped to ask what we take in in-kind donations.

Then, there was me running around trying to keep things flowing.