Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Hope spreads wings to Clovis

CLOVIS — An expansion of the Hope Children's Home in Tampa, Florida, is coming to Clovis and the group plans to celebrate its arrival with a grand opening.

Saturday's ceremony will begin around 11 a.m. at the children's home, 2210 Mabry Drive, and will include a free meal, games and bouncy houses for children and an open house of the home itself for community members to walk around and get a sense of the building, said house parent Ed Hofknecht.

"We just want people to know we're trying to make a difference in Clovis and be a resource for families that know they need help," cottage assistant Areana Flowers said.

Hofknecht said the home will initially be able to support up to 14 children, with further renovations planned as funds become available that would ultimately bring the total occupancy to around 70 kids.

"The kids that come into our care are children that I like to say they're good kids that have found themselves in bad situations," Hofknecht said.

"Maybe a parent lost a job or there might be a problem with addiction or someone's incarcerated or something like that. For whatever reason it's usually no fault to the child and the parents are able to bring them to us and we're able to care for them as long as there's a need."

Hofknecht said that all funding for the program comes from private individuals and organizations including churches, which allows the children's home to put an emphasis on spirituality and the Christian faith.

"We believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and we make it a point that we're able to offer the Gospel to any of the kids that come through," he said. "We just think that it's a really important part of life."

Clovis marks the second expansion for Hope Children's Home, which has been in existence for 50 years. Hofknecht said the group also serves about 80 children in Tampa and around 20 kids in Honduras.

He said Clovis' Westbrook Baptist Church had purchased the property and the pastor met Hope Children's Home officials during a church event in Tampa about 18 months ago, which put the pieces in motion.

"We looked at the property and looked at the area and prayed about it and just made our best guess as to whether or not it would work and move forward with it so that's how we made our way to Clovis," Hofknecht said.

Flowers said that children will begin to be accepted into the program following Saturday's grand opening. She said they will likely attend school at the home and that the kids will eat, play and attend church with the home's staff.

"Once they get here we're their family," Flowers said. "We try to run as much as a family as we can."

She said the ultimate goal of the program is to reunite children with their parents, though it's not always possible.

For information, call 575-366-8190 or visit:

http://www.hopechildrenshome.org/newmexico

 
 
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