Clare Hearns - First day at Girls Hope

Today was my first day volunteering with Boys Hope Girls Hope of New Orleans and I already got a pretty good insight of what these children are like and how the organization is run. I am working at the girls home which has 6 girls living in it along with 3 or 4 "house moms". Two of the girls are in the fifth grade at Holy Name, 3 of the girls are juniors at Dominican High School, and the other girl is a junior at Lusher. I had to a chance to talk with one of the girls from Dominican who has been in the program for over 4 years. She explained to me all about their schools, study schedules, and living situations. The high school girls have study hours dependent on their gpas and the younger girls have mandatory homework time after school. The home is a great atmosphere for these kids. They have family dinner every night at 6 and everyone is very close and supportive of one another. The children are not deprived from their families while they are there, they get to see them often. All the children are very devoted to their educations and building a successful life. I look forward to working more with everyone at Girls Hope and learning more about the children and the organization.