A giving update...

The tallies are in...

drum roll please...

So far from our annual appeal we have received $6,480!!

Thank you so much to all of those who have contributed... it is GREATLY appreciated!!

As the snow gently falls, the presents are wrapped and the scent of the food made with love wafts through the house, I hope you take a moment to look around and savor all of the magical moments this Holiday season.

We here at HOPE Center hope you enjoy your friends and family and take time to nurture the important relationships in your life.

See Me!

Today has been a busy day full of clients, and today I was privileged enough to spend some time with one of the clients little girls. She is 3 and so we colored and played while mommy met with the advocates to determine her next steps.

She was spinning around on a chair in my office and apparently I wasn't paying enough attention and she said "Hey... Hey... See me! Look at me with your eyes! See Me!".

Isn't that what all of our clients, and all of us long for... to be seen, to be appreciated for our special talents, be it twirling in a chair, or coloring or something a bit more complex.

So today, please take the time to "see" those special people in your lives.

Annual Appeal Update...

So today has been a day of Thanks... catching up on the very important job of thank you letters to those who are so generous with their time and treasures and offering them to HOPE Center. So having just finished with that process I have an update for everyone!

As of 12/10/09 we have received $2,620.00! I will continue to update this as we go along.

Thanks to all those who have contributed!!

It is much appreciated!

A day of learning...

Today I got the chance to go to St. Olaf for a few different things. My morning was spent talking to a class about the HOPE Center, Relationship Violence, Prevention, Education and a little bit about how I got to HOPE Center as well as some self-care tips for those thinking of entering the Social Work field. I always enjoy talking to students who are in the midst of determining what life path they want to choose. There is so much excitement, hope and a sincere desire to learn more about who we are and what we do. And with this class there were lots of great questions and I only wish we had more time to talk more about all of the issues we deal with on a daily basis.

And in the afternoon I was part of a class that had done brochures for the HOPE Center on different issues. The topics included:

* DANCO's (Domestic Abuse No Contact Orders)

* You are Not Alone: Understanding and Help for Families of Abuse Survivors

* Marital Rape

* What You Can Do When Someone You Love Is Being Hurt

* Understanding Why She Stays- for family and friends

As a part of the civic engagement piece of the Marriage and Family class with their professor Ryan Sheppard they had come to do a tour of HOPE Center, to find out more about what we do and how we could help, they then took that information and ran with it creating some great brochures for us with lots of good information.

Today was the unveiling of the final projects and it was so fun to see the final product and to hear more about what they had learned from the classes.

A good way to spend a Monday :).

Getting into the Holiday Spirit...

We have already had several people ask about sponsoring a family, or what we need for the upcoming Holidays so here is our wishlist!

Do you want to be an Angel of New Beginnings this Holiday Season?

The celebration of the Holidays is an important part of family traditions across the world, and for many women and children we serve the Holidays mark the beginning of a new life, and new traditions. In the spirit of wanting to make this season as personal and as meaningful as possible for the women and children we support during this holiday season we would like to do things a little differently.

Here are the three ways we HOPE you will consider supporting us this year:

Gift Cards-

In the past we have asked for wish lists from our clients and then had community members adopt specific families. While that was wonderful- this year we want to involve our clients in the holiday fun, and let them be the elves. This allows our families to decide for themselves what will be the most meaningful, it allows them the joy of picking out exactly what their families most need and appreciate and most importantly enables them to be a part of the glad tidings and good cheer. We also want to be able to offer a chance for the children in the family to buy a gift for their mothers, something that in the past they often aren’t able to do.

What we need from you:

· Donations of Gift Cards for local stores (including grocery and gas cards) in denominations of $10, $25 and $50.

· Donations of gift wrap and tissue paper to give to the families

New Beginnings Basket-

Many of our clients are starting over with nothing, and so they need the essentials. Putting some or all these items in a clothes basket is incredibly needed and helpful for our families.

Basic Cleaning Supplies (laundry detergent, dish soap, glass cleaner, disinfectant cleaner etc.)

A Pot and a Pan

Silverware and dishes for 4

Dishtowel and dishrag

A candle

Garbage Bags

Kleenex

Paper towels

Pot holder

Toilet Paper

Pen and Pencil

Deck of Cards

Towel and Washcloth

Full size toiletries

3. Adopt HOPE Center

We are always in need of the following things:

Copy Paper

Colored Paper (esp. teal and purple)

Legal Pads

Folders

Post-It’s

Highlighters

Glue Sticks

Ink Cartridges- [HP 94 and 97 or equivalent]

Kleenex

Jump Drives [6]

Blank Envelopes

Large Envelopes

Paper Towels

Napkins

Paper Plates

Styrofoam Cups

Cleaning Supplies

Diapers and wipes

Full size toiletries

Please bring all items to HOPE Center by December 18^th.

Questions? Call 507-332-0882 or e-mail estaab@hopecentermn.org

Giving and Upgrading...

Giving the to Max...

So the numbers are in... and the spirit of giving spread throughout the entire state! People gave over $14 million dollars in just one day!! Over 3,000 non-profits benefited from that. What an amazing feat!!

Here at HOPE Center we had 14 donors and raised $1,573!!! We so appreciate you taking the time to think of us!!

On a different note...

I was looking through the ads for the upcoming Black Friday sales... and I was thinking of all of you who might be upgrading your technology this year. If Santa blesses you with a new computer, cell phone, ipod, game system etc. please keep us in mind as a place that would greatly appreciate your old ones. Two of our computers are on the brink and it isn't in the budget to get new ones.

Also remember we collect old cell phones, so we are happy to take those off your hands, and those it doesn't matter whether they are working or not, our program recycles the ones that aren't usable by our clients.

Thanks for thinking of us!

Awed and inspired...

Well as many of you have heard from various sources it is Give to the Max day... people all over the state are choosing non-profits on www.givemn.org and sharing their money and passion for many wonderful organiziations.

Go here if you want to see more about HOPE Center or donate yourself:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Hope-Center-15

I was awed and inspired this morning when I came into work, turned on my computer and my inbox was filled with people who had chosen HOPE Center!

As of this afternoon we are up to $685.00!!

And all of that is eligible for the match from Give MN! But from what it sounds like there has been an incredible spirit of giving that has swept over the entire state... so although it will still be matched, it won't be $1 for $1... what a wonderful "problem", that the people of MN are so generous that the matching pot of $500,000 is too small to match dollar for dollar.

People around the state are stepping up and supporting causes they care about... thanks again to those who have chosen HOPE Center! We appreciate it!