​In operation for more than 50 years, Hope Children’s Home (hopechildrenshome.org) provides care and a Christian-centered education to children in need. Located on a 55-acre campus in Tampa, Hope Children’s Home offers these kids a safe and nurturing environment in which to grow.

Children need a place where they feel socially, physically, and emotionally secure as they develop into adults. This will help them to gain confidence, build relationships, and reach their potential.

In contrast, when kids lack a safe environment, they are exposed to prolonged feelings of stress. As a result of this stress, hormones in the body wreak havoc with the connections in the brain circuits and have a lasting effect on children. These include a low threshold for stress, poor immune response, and learning deficits associated with memory.

Creating a safe environment for kids is relatively simple, but it does require effort on the part of adults. Limiting yelling and shouting will make kids feel more safe, as will giving them plenty of playtime. Encouraging their natural curiosity will also promotes a sense of safety.

Since kids learn from the adults around them, it is important that adults set a good example. Even when you think that a child cannot see or hear something, they usually can, and what they observe impacts their understanding of the world. This extends to the attitudes exhibited by the adults around them. While challenges in life are unavoidable, responding in a positive and consistent way provides children with a sense of stability and hope.

Since its founding in Tampa, Florida, in 1968, Hope Children’s Home has opened its doors to young people in need of a safe and nurturing foster care shelter after enduring problems such as abuse, neglect, and abandonment. In its growing number of 4,000-square-foot Cottages of Hope designed to keep siblings together, Hope Children’s Home provides expanded living spaces, with large bright common areas and cozy bedrooms that offer both privacy and opportunities for meaningful social interactions. The cottages, supervised by loving houseparents 24 hours a day, offer a genuine Christian, family atmosphere.
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Since it declines state or federal aid, the foster home relies entirely on private donations. Blessed by numerous committed donors and community partners, the foster home has been able to add several state-of-the-art cottages over the years. Its team showed supporters what moving day in June 2020 was like through a lively video posted on its YouTube channel.

“It’s moving day!” shout a big group of ‘tween and teen girls together, running up onto the porch as they relocate from a traditional dorm into their new cottage. Donors are able to see their generosity in action in the video, as the girls wheel suitcases into their new home.

A comfortable, light-filled living room, well-appointed and charming bedrooms with plenty of storage, and a large and accommodating kitchen all make the girls proud to share the joys of their new space.

To learn more, or to offer financial support, visit HopeChildrensHome.org.