News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cumberland Children’s Center House of Hope throwing a rummage sale through Saturday to raise funds for children who have suffered from abuse.
The organization recently celebrated its 20th anniversary of helping children who have been removed from abusive homes by the Department of Children’s Services. House of Hope Executive Director Denise Melton said child abuse cases have increased every year since COVID.
“Adults had a hard time coping with COVID,” Melton said. “They are supposed to have a lot more coping skills and skills to be able to do that. You know, can you imagine what that did to kids, and especially being home with their abusers and not as many eyes being on them because schools were closed.”
Depending on the case a child can stay at the House of Hope anywhere from two days to two months until Children’s Services finds a place for them to stay.
The House of Hope Rummage Sale continues through Saturday at 2954 Hwy 70 N, next to the flea market in Crossville. Melton said they do the sale to buy clothing, food, and games for the kids.
“We do these every year in our warehouse building,” Melton said. “We do that to raise funds directly for the House of Hope for the things the kids need because while they are there we take care of them just like you would a child that’s in your home. We do not get any compensation for that, our community supports every bit of that cost.”
Melton said 157 kids have stayed at the House of Hope within the last 11 months.
“A lot of the children that we keep are teenagers,” Melton said. “Some of them have lived in abuse for several years and after they have been removed they have a lot of things that they are dealing with. It’s important for them to have a safe place to go, so they kind of decompress, just feel safe, and be at peace. Get some sort of normalcy within their lives and become stable.”
