Children with troubled pasts, and the adults in their lives

After a few weeks working with Girls Hope, I have gotten to know a little bit about the children, their families, and the women living in the home with these girls. The 8 girls living in the home are being raised and taken care of by just a handful of 20 something year old women, not very unlike myself. It has lead me to take a step back and wonder what kind of impact that has on these girls who are in a vital stage of their lives for growing and maturing. I was able to talk to one of the "house moms" about this and was really a great help for me to understand this odd and unconventional home life. The children accepted into Boys Hope Girls Hope go through a rigorous application period, lasting months, which prepares them mentally for what they are about to take part in. She explained to me that, although there are definfetly sometime problems within the home, the children and young adults in the program all understand that they were chosen to be here because they have something special about them. These boys and girls were chosen because their situations at home were not permitting them to fully exercise their intellectual abilities.

Being a part of Boys Hope Girls Hope calls for a lot of committment from the children and young adults in the program. They are away from their families for the majority of their week and are living with people who were once strangers to them, but in an odd way, now their family. This family model of the organization is what makes it so special. The house moms have expressed to me how hard it sometimes to be the authority figure when they are not so far passed childhood themselves, but that it is a challenging and rewarding role.