HELP House
HELP House is an outreach mission established through the Tri-cities Area Lutheran Mission Strategy (AMS), and operated through Lutheran Services of Tennessee (LST) under the guidelines of the Supervised Visitation Network. The goal of this ministry is to help area families and children in crisis.
HELP House strives to reunite families by providing supervised visitation between non-custodial or visiting parents and children. Located at 674 Island Road in Bristol, VA, visiting parents and children have the opportunity to interact in a warm, home-like family setting. Each visit occurs in the presence of a trained independent volunteer. Custodial parents can rest assured that their child(ren) will be safe and secure while the non-custodial parent is free from worry of being falsely accused of inappropriate behavior.
Visits (usually lasting two hours) take place in comfortable rooms equipped with games, puzzles, videos, books, toys, etc. If desired, meals can be prepared in the kitchen or ordered in by visiting families. A fenced in yard allows for outdoor activities.
Referrals come from court systems, social services, area churches and individuals in surrounding areas and states. Fees are charged on a sliding scale based on the client's ability to pay. Other services available through HELP House include monitored exchanges, the exchange of children between custodial and non-custodial parents-to avoid interaction between parents; written reports to service agencies upon request and resource referrals for clients with special needs.
HELP House is financially supported by Lutheran Services of Tennessee, grants, designated offerings and budgeted items from churches, donations, contributions and gifts "in kind".
For additional information, please go to www.thrivent.com/magazine/spring05/Mag_starters.html.