Who do we help and how do we do it?
Who
We serve families and their teenage girls, ages 13 to 18 that live in York, Adams, and Lancaster Counties, northern Maryland, or within a two hour driving radius of our Home and office located in Glen Rock, PA. The Residential Home opened May 5, 2012 and can house up to six girls. By bringing the girls into our residential program and removing them from their environment, we can intervene before they head down the path of a desolate and self-destructive life. We empower them with the tools they need to break free from the vicious cycles of domestic abuse, drug addiction, and self-harm. By building them up and teaching them healthy emotional, social, mental, physical, and spiritual skills, we can restore hope and give these girls a chance at living the life that they deserve.
Why
The family unit is the building block of our society. The more broken the family unit becomes, the more our society suffers from the impact of emotionally, spiritually, physically and socially unhealthy adults. Families must be equipped to teach their children how to be resilient and cope with emotional struggles, preparing them for a healthy and productive life. When families are unable to provide their children with the emotional support they need to succeed, we step in and help facilitate the healing process. By counseling the girls individually, as well as their family unit, we help identify and address the issues that are keeping the family from having a healthy environment.
How
Each teenage girl and their family benefit from the services our organization provides which in turn, helps change our society for the better. Since we opened our doors in 2012, we have served over 200 people through our various services:
Family Counseling & Education
We do not just mentor the girls who stay at House of Hope. We recognize that healthy adults come from healthy families and REQUIRE all families to be involved in the process with the ultimate goal of reuniting the family. This means that parents are required to attend weekly parenting classes, weekly counseling (individual, marital, and/or familial), and special events with their children as part of the program.
Individual Counseling
Our counseling program is incredibly unique and individualized. Each girl goes through six phases of counseling, in which the teen and the family have both separate and combined counseling sessions. The counseling is intensive and involves action outside of the counseling room. Counselors work with the House moms and teachers to ensure that the issues being addressed in counseling are also being addressed properly by all of the staff. By fully immersing the girls in an environment that promotes healing and directly addresses negative thought and behavior patterns, the girls are able to experience a mindset shift that the ends self-destructive behavior.
Life Skills Education
We address a multitude of common issues in unhealthy family situations while the girls are living at the House. Many of the girls that come here aren’t equipped with basic life skills, from grooming, to cooking and cleaning. While living at the House, the girls are required to learn these basic life skills as part of the program. Each girl is assessed and given a unique and individualized plan to address any gaps in life skills needed to be independent and productive.
Academic Education
Our educational program is a key part of the success of our girls. Many of the girls that come through here were suffering from poor grades and lack of school attendance that require an individualized educational plan. Our on-site school “Hope Academy”, registered with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, provides the teens education using the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum. Because of the small group setting, Hope Academy is able to provide each student with the attention and encouragement needed to grow and prepare them to be successful students. By providing this individualized approach, we help our girls be effective in their scholarly endeavors now and in the future.
Spiritual Education
One of the biggest things that sets House of Hope apart and an attribute to our success, is our recognition and treatment of spiritual issues. While we take in girls and families from all walks of life, our ideals and principles are Biblically based. By cultivating a healthy and meaningful spiritual life, the girls are able to overcome many of their fears and issues.