Empowering Young People Aging out of Foster Care

2017 Volume 1

Dear Friends,

Thanks to your support, 2017 is off to a great start at The Hope Center. Six of our young people are participating in an employment readiness program with Fostering Wellness and four of our young people are pursuing their studies at Wake Tech and NC Central University. Others are working at internships and jobs. Our staff and volunteers have held two tutor/mentor training sessions already this year. We are excited about the enthusiasm of our new volunteers and grateful for the generosity and dedication of the many long-standing volunteers and supporters of The Hope Center.

In March, we will be starting a new initiative with our young people who are parents. In addition to providing them with case management services and weekly independent living skills classes that include a parenting component, we will be setting up a children's bookshelf at our office and giving our young people children's books to take home and share with their children.

The importance of sharing books with children cannot be underestimated. Reading aloud to children builds a bond between parents and their children and helps children develop their verbal skills. In addition, a twenty-year study by Mariah Evans, Associate Professor of Sociology and Resource Economics at the University of Nevada Reno, showed that having a large number of books in the home has as great an impact on educational attainment for children as the educational level of their parents. This data bears out in the United States and China, for children with rich or poor parents, whether they are readers or not.

This information could not be better news for the children of our young people. Many of the young people we serve have learning disabilities and struggle to get their GEDs. We will continue to help them prepare for the workforce. At the same time, we will encourage them to read aloud to their children and help enrich the environment where they and their children live.

You can help us with this effort by donating new and gently used children's books to The Hope Center in March and April. Together, we will brighten the days of young people in Wake County and will help make their futures brighter, too.

Warmly,

Jennifer Weiss

Executive Director

The Hope Center at Pullen

The Hope Center Book Drive

Help us build home libraries for the children of the young people we serve! We are collecting children's books in March and April. Clients will be encouraged to take a book home to share with their child(ren) each time they visit our office.

Giving a book to a child has the potential to open the door to academic achievement and future success in adulthood. As Jennifer shared above, the link to academic success and the number of books in a child's house is highly correlated, regardless of family income level. The children of our young people experience all of the challenges faced by their young parents - many are not in stable housing, they may experience food insecurity and most have few toys or books to call their own. Please help us provide these children with books of their own to encourage a love of reading and learning.

Bring your book donations to The Hope Center at Pullen at 1801 Hillsborough Street. We are located behind Pullen Memorial Baptist Church.

Highlight: Mentors

We would like to extend a huge thank you to all of our mentors. Mentors play a critical role in the lives of many of our young people - acting as role models, counselors and advisors, and providing an endless source of support for our young people. We have found that the best mentor/mentee relationships benefit both parties. Below is what one of our mentors had to share about her experience:

"Mentoring means to advise or train someone, but to me it is so much more. It's an opportunity to give back. The Hope Center at Pullen did an excellent job in matching me with my mentee. This is VERY important, since we have similar interests we had no difficulty in relating to each other. As a seasoned African American woman, I have had a wide range of experiences and I enjoy the opportunity to "pass it along". Are there sometimes challenges we must deal with? You betcha, but life is full of challenges. The important thing is how do we work THROUGH those challenges. I hope that at the end of our journey, my mentee will be a stronger and more confident individual. In my case, she knows she has a friend she can trust. TRUST is the foundation of our relationship."

"As my mentee has learned from me, I have learned from her. I have learned that the best thing I can do sometimes, is LISTEN. God gave us 2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason. We need to listen twice as much as talk."

Save the date for our annual Raising Hope event! This year's event, a brunch and silent auction, will take place at The Glenwood, with catering by Irregardless Café, on Sunday, June 4, at 12:30 pm. Please set aside this day to join us in celebrating the young people we serve and all of our volunteers and partners who make our work possible. This year, we will also honor our longtime supporter, coach and office manager, Pat Hielscher, as she retires and moves on to enjoy the next phase of her life. Pat first joined The Hope Center in 2011 as a part-time office manager. She has been a true pillar of support and an indispensable member of the team. Please join us to honor Pat's dedication and commitment to The Hope Center.

I f you would like to be a sponsor for the event or would like to donate to the silent auction, please contact Kellie Burris at kburris@hopecenteratpullen.org or (919) 322-2751, ext. 4. Please stay tuned for information about ticket sales.