A Thanksgiving service Tuesday evening at Freeman Chapel CME Church fulfilled a couple of needs.
First it gave 50 or so people who attended a place to express gratitude as a shared experience. Then it generated a donation of $400 for Joy Closet, a local nonprofit that helps children in foster and kinship care.
Joy Close representative Julia Roberts spoke about her experience as a foster parent and what she has learned about the trauma many children experience as they enter foster care.
She described accepting two siblings, ages 3 and 5, for foster care late one evening when she was six months pregnant. Soon after the siblings arrived, it became clear they had methamphetamine residue on their clothing, which posed a health risk to Roberts. She left the room while her husband bathed the children. Their clothing had to be thrown away. A search began for clothing and diapers that would fit the children. Despite their ages, they were not potty trained.
Roberts understood the children were probably humiliated and frightened.
“I went to bed and I sobbed,” she said.
From that experience, Roberts became an advocate for a Joy Closet program called Hope House.
The nonprofit is raising money to build a three-bedroom house in Christian County to serve children just entering the foster care system through the Kentucky Department for Community-Based Services. The house will have office space for social workers.
Children in crisis situations sometimes are taken from their homes with little warning, and social workers are not able to immediately place them in a home with foster parents.
Almost any night of the week, said Roberts, there are children sleeping in a local social worker’s office or in a hotel. Hope House will provide a better place for children in those situations.
Joy Closet estimates the house will cost $210,000. Roughly $60,0000 to $80,000 has been raised. Construction is slated to begin in January, said Roberts.
This marked the second year a collection was taken for Joy Closet at the Community Thanksgiving service organized by the Christian County Ministerial Association.
Following Roberts’ talk, the Rev. Becky Durham gave a brief message on gratitude. Freeman Chapel choir members sang for the service, and double-bassist Bill Koehler played several songs.
Joy Closet has its offices in the former Belmont Elementary School at 814 Belmont St.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
