By Staff
May 25, 2003
Carrie Ponder, executive director of the Sela Ward-inspired Hope Village for Children, left her position last week and is headed for Oxford. She did a masterful job of coordinating all of the developmental aspects of this home for abused and neglected children and her presence here will be missed.
The work she helped start must continue. We understand that Hope Village is pursuing possible candidates for the executive director's job and we hope a new person is on the scene soon to direct operations.
Hope Village currently has about 33 children on site; two cottages are vacant due to a shortage of funding. The staff is about to receive a days-old baby girl, born to a mother that courts have decided is not competent to keep her. All of the children who live at Hope Village deserve another chance at a better life.
The fact is that providing a wide range of care for children of different ages is an expensive proposition. Everyone knew that when the facility was launched.
And, yet, providing such care for otherwise helpless and neglected kids is an essential component of a caring community. Hope Village for Children may need new sources of private and, possibly, public funding if it is to achieve its highest potential.
The Meridian Star encourages our readers to think about how you can assist in this innovative project, the success of which, in the final analysis, will go a long way toward defining what kind of community we live in.