If your community is anything like mine in Harrison, there are many homeless mothers who can benefit enormously from receiving a leg up on regaining hope at a time when things appear bleakest.
And you might want to pay attention with an eye toward what's been happening here and perhaps emulate what's been created in this Ozark community in your own city. Some Arkansas towns already have done just that. More on that later.
Creating more hope is why three local grandmothers decided they would toss a life ring to homeless single mothers in dire need of housing and other life necessities for themselves and their children, at no cost to them.
Yep, it was not philanthropists, business folk or bankers, but three grandmothers who decided six years ago to invest themselves and their community's sense of caring into creating a place where distant hopes could become reality for those searching for a better life.
The trick, as it always is, was someone had to care enough to turn their caring into action. Since then, 56 families and 67 children have been helped.
I wrote once before about Hope Cottages and all they have meant to grateful mothers. A lot has happened since then. Originally under the House of Hope nonprofit, Hope Cottages now has its own 501(c)3. And it just joined the Chamber of Commerce.
Its leadership also is in the process of adding two additional cottages, which will bring the number of housing units to seven, each with a washer and dryer. A fully furnished shared kitchen was completed in October 2021.
Hope Cottages remains at full occupancy, which consists of five mothers and anywhere from seven to 12 children. Today, three are mothers with newborns.
A majority of mothers in the process of rebuilding their lives spend time gaining some form of training or education and seeing to the needs of their children. Most of the children and mothers require some type of counseling or special services. Mothers also are expected to participate in programs that help achieve personal goals that help them live independently.
"They can stay as long as they are making progress, or hitting their goals. We have no time limit, but mothers have to be making progress that will allow them to live successfully and independently after they leave the cottages," said Hope Cottages board member Shirley McCutchen, who is joined on the board by Arah Dean Turner, Chrissie Larchez, Steve Davis, Trista Owens, and Doug Bourquin.
This can be accomplished by advancing their education, and acquiring a car, a job, sobriety or a drug-free lifestyle. In the process, they learn budgeting, work ethic, job skills, parenting skills and more.
Volunteers provide transportation. Sometimes, a mother will have a car. "But that's seldom," said McCutchen. "Sometimes, they don't know how to drive or have a driver's license when they arrive. We've had volunteers teach our mothers how to drive."
Volunteers perform a valuable service. Some also babysit. Many of the children are enrolled in local preschool or school programs, and others are served by day-care facilities.
"It takes quite a mix of people to help with all the children," said McCutchen. Males who aren't working at the cottages are not allowed on the grounds that are monitored by 24-hour cameras.
All mothers are expected to do chores and help keep shared areas clean and organized. Although they aren't required to pay for their stay, each is expected to help with needs as they arise. For instance, sometimes, they babysit for each other or cook meals for others.
"Some events are shared events, and sometimes the families do their own thing. For the most part, all the mothers and children get along very well, and appear to form their own little community of sorts," said McCutchen.
The cottages don't use government grants for their operations; instead, funding is shared between generous churches, local organizations, and individual donors for financial and moral support.
In many ways, this has evolved into a successful labor of love. At this point, no one working at the cottages receives a salary, as it is solely operated by volunteers and its active board.
The facility's appropriate motto is "Hope Grows Here." Those accepted to live at Hope Cottages arrive from homelessness with their children to be treated with love and respect.
"We guide them toward a life they richly deserve, working to determine their needs and goals. With basic needs met, they each develop an action plan," said McCutchen. "Above all, we give them hope. When our guests leave, they have the tools and resources needed to be better parents, self-sufficient, and proud of what they were able to accomplish."
Word of Hope Cottage's success has spread well outside the city limits. McCutchen said she's spoken with a number of different groups about their structure, policies and procedures. "We've shared our information with other similar programs, and we have learned from each other how to perhaps do things differently or even better," she said.
"We've evolved so far from where we started to where we are now, and learned new things along the way." They also have learned some good lessons from their mistakes.
"As most know, the road to wisdom is always paved with our best mistakes. I remember the first group of young ladies we started from was most certainly a learning experience for all of us. So we sat down and reworked some of our policies and procedures and went at it again."
Today, she feels the nonprofit has a better system in place that allows for mothers to leave the cottages almost always better off than where they were initially.
"No one leaves the facility without learning a little something, or a lot. We are always willing to help others learn about the facility."
Contact Hope Cottages at [email protected].
Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].