florida

Modern-day orphans find hope through Place of Hope

by Karen Granger | The Good News | May 5th 2009
Tags: Liberty University, Mike Van Soest, Place of Hope

Palm Beach County
Ministry: Place of Hope
Child in focus: Mike Van Soest
Website: PlaceofHope.com

Place of Hope in Palm Beach Gardens became a reality after the founders of Christ Fellowship, Tom and Donna Mullins, visited a Romanian orphanage where they saw the hardships of orphans first-hand.

“They saw things that worked and things that broke their hearts,” explains Place of Hope’s Executive Director Charles Bender. “They knew we had issues in our own backyard we needed to address.” Bender explains the crisis in Florida at the time: “Jeb Bush had just been elected governor. The child welfare laws where upside-down after authorities discovered a child had died at the hands of their parents.

“There was a public outcry. People were upset that the child had not been removed from the household earlier to prevent the tragedy. So government officials became extremely cautious, and the system was flooded with children,” Bender explains.

The ministry leaders at Christ Fellowship took a good hard look at the needs of the children and families.

“We saw there was a huge need to keep groups of siblings together,” Bender says.

And they noticed that foster care children needed a stable place to call home, he adds.

Hence, the Place of Hope’s family-based model of care was born. “While the courts figure things out, it’s so important for the children to be in a family atmosphere,” Bender says.

The ministry also built a second campus in Palm Beach Gardens, called Villages of Hope, for young adults who have “aged out” of the foster care system at 18.

An additional center that includes a counseling center is currently under construction.

Bender has seen loving, Christian families transform many lives. For example, Mike Van Soest, a young man who recently aged out of the system, is now living with a family that mentored him.

“He’ll be graduating from Jupiter Christian High School this month and has been accepted to Liberty University where he’ll study to be a praise and worship leader,” Bender says. “He’s a great example that through faith in Christ, you can surpass your past.”

Bender credits today’s economy and the stresses on the family as the reason they are seeing children coming into the foster care system in greater numbers.

“We see a lot of abuse and neglect, and there are not enough homes to care for them,” he says. “The only answer is the Church community.”