Tennessee county offers House of Hope for meth orphans
When authorities find children inside meth labs, many of them have endured a life filled with pain and suffering. Fortunately for the children of Cumberland County, Tenn. the first stop on their journey to a new life begins at the county’s House of Hope.
The House of Hope is a short-term care facility where children taken from their meth-addicted parents are cleaned up, checked out, fed and allowed to stay with a trained volunteer until a foster parent can arrive. The facility is the brainchild of Sheriff Eucle "Butch" Burgess and a handful of people who were concerned about how to deal with this growing, endangered population of meth orphans.
"Our whole premise is that these are our kids and we’re not going to wait around for Washington or Nashville. We’re going to do it ourselves," Burgess said.
The House of Hope in Cumberland County, Tenn. was made possible through the generosity and hard work of county staff and members of the community.
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Since the House of Hope opened for business in June of 2004, approximately 120 meth orphans have funneled through the house on their way to foster care. The House, was purchased by a 501(c)3 created specifically for this purpose. An account has been set up with a local bank so community members can make contributions to pay off the mortgage for the house. The family who sold the house also donated a portion of their proceeds back to the House of Hope.
Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Steinmann serves as executive director, and a cadre of trained volunteers staff the house. Child protective services has an office in the house and several area mental health providers volunteer their services to the House of Hope.
"We couldn’t have made this happen if we relied on government money because of the red tape," Burgess said. "And if we can get this down-pat, any county can do it because we haven’t depended on any funding. In every county, their kids are just as important as ours are."
Although there has been little time for fundraising since the house opened last June, they did hold a fundraiser recenlty on a local radio station. Burgess said they had hoped to raise about $10,000 but realistically expected to raise about $6,000. In the end, the House of Hope raised $19,000. Burgess hopes to use some of that money to put an addition on the house that would include a training room for volunteers and a day care to help out the foster parents.
All donations made to the county’s division of the Salvation Army go to support the House of Hope. A group of retirees makes each child their own blanket. People have been so generous, donating everything from money to clothing to beds that the House of Hope has finally had to ask people to hold on to their items and donate them at a later date.
Burgess himself is a shining example of the dedication of people in Cumberland County. In addition to the House of Hope, Burgess and his wife have been foster parents to about 30 children in 11 years, many of them meth orphans.
"We’ve got a little one with us right now who came to us when he was three and weighed about 23 pounds. He didn’t speak the whole first week," Burgess said. "Now, he just took his proficiency test to go from kindergarten to the first grade and he got 100 percent."
The pride is evident in Burgess’ voice when he talks about his current foster child, the House of Hope and his community’s commitment to helping others.
"I say that there are two things that have driven this project," Burgess said. "The generosity of people and the grace of God because everything that we have needed has just happened."
(For more information about the Cumberland County House of Hope, visit www.houseofhope.us or call 931/707-2273.)
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