May 2016 Update!
WE HAVE MOVED! After only a couple weeks we are very pleased to say that we have already begun to see the fruit and experience the blessing of our new location the girls have named, “Light and Hope.”
We spent weeks in preparations in order to “move well” setting up new structure and operations before introducing to the girls in their home, we are praying that those daily routines and schedules would become engrained in them so we can focus on their health and healing. We have seen drastic growth in our girls and staff and we are so grateful! We are praying that we would only continue to grow in these necessary areas.
As New Hope grows so does our need for qualified staff. We are in need of teachers, caregivers, interns and assistants. We are eternally grateful to our current staff, but some of our key players will be moving on in the next couple months to different locations and we are praying that God will faithfully fill in the gaps.
Our girls are finishing up classes before the end of the school year in June and as we move toward a Montessori based curriculum we are excited that our staff will be receiving their certification beginning August thanks so full scholarships that have granted from the Montessori Institute in Santo Domingo.
One of the activities the girls have loved most of all has been going to the stadium track that is just across the street from our house, a less than five minute walk. Corinne, our current intern, has been running with them almost daily and they haven’t grown tried of it yet (although it could be because she uses time at their new favorite park as motivation :) We are praying that as she leaves this coming June there would be someone else who could continue training with our girls as they are eager to continue enter into races as they did earlier this winter when the big girls completed their first 5k.
As far as our property goes, one of the girls’ favorite additions is our trampoline that a dear Dominican supporter gave to us and set up just a few days before the girls moved in. Every last one of them are completely fascinated by it, and we are supportive because trampolines are actually used as a tool for therapy and allows for those who have experienced trauma or interruptions in development to catch up in regards to touch and sensory.
We are so pleased to announce that a team has agreed to fix the pool in June as well as host a camp for the girls, right here at Light and Hope. The building of our kitchen and out-door eating space has also been pledged by a team and will be tackled in January 2017. In the meantime, we are in the waiting process as we believe that the Lord will surely bring other individuals and teams to commit to our other projects and help us complete the payment of the property (you can check out the link here to get informed on our Capital Campaign that was launched just over a month ago: http://www.newhopegirls.co/captialcampaign/