A Place for Hope
Written by: Kay Baker
In 1998, Four Corners Home for Children began receiving more and more requests to care for children who needed a safe place for a brief time. While placing these children in our long-term homes, we found that their shorter stays were disruptive for our long-term children who could not return to their families. This often resulted in emotional unrest.
We desired to meet the differing needs of all the children, so we opened one of our long-term homes as an emergency placement home for children. This home became the House of Hope. Homer and Mary Lou Stepanek became our first set of house parents in 1999, and they provided love, safety, and stability for children who were found in crisis situations. Maybe they were found home alone by a social worker, taken from a car by police due to an intoxicated driver, or picked up at school because of abuse being reported by a teacher. The doors were opened, and the children kept coming. Sometimes they were with us for 24 hours until family members could be found to care for them. Other times they spent a couple weeks or longer, depending upon their family situation.
In August 2000, Rick and Paula Terpsma left their position as houseparents for long-term children and moved into the House of Hope, caring for 60 children over the next 18 months. Our current Director of Education, Hope Humbles, also cared for these children who, through no fault of their own, found themselves facing a crisis in their life. I have taken tearful children into my home at 2:00 a.m.; children separated from their families and all they know. I can appreciate the joy our house parents experience when they calm a frightened child, offer her a glass of milk while talking together, and sit by her bedside until she finally falls asleep.
Being rescued from a fearful situation is life-changing. Our House of Hope offers comfort, relief, healing, and hope. One seven-year-old child expressed her thanks for having her very basic needs met, as she wrote this note: “Thank you for giving us a home and a warm bed. I like the good food and the family to share.” We extend our thanks to you, our donors, as your prayers and gifts continue to help us provide for these children in crisis. In Matthew 18:5, we read, “Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”