Tours for Hope 'shines a light' on foster care

Tours for Hope highlighted five homes in Southeast Missouri on Saturday to raise awareness and benefit Hope for One More, a local, not-for-profit organization with one main goal: providing foster care and advocacy services to those in need.

Among the many volunteers stationed at the featured homes, representatives from Area Properties Real Estate�River Region, First Missouri State Bank, Red Letter Communications and the founders of Hope for One More also were present.

Dylan Sides � originally from Southeast Missouri � lived within the foster care system for seven years and now works with Hope for One More.

�I used to live at the Hope Children�s Home,� Sides said. �So I went from being in foster care, on that side of Hope for One More, to being on the other side, as a volunteer.�

Hope Children�s Home is one of the programs supported by Hope for One More. According to its website, Hope Children�s Home helps children who have been taken into protective custody and provides meals, clothing and medical care until foster-home arrangements can be made.

Sides said Hope for One More does a lot to help children �rise above the statistics� if they are within the foster care system.

He said Tours for Hope helps people realize there �is an issue� and there are people who need help in the community.

�It�s not like this is some overseas thing; this is stuff that�s happening in your neighborhood,� he said.

Stacey Wiley, director of programs for Hope for One More and present at the home of Bob and Barb Denton at 3073 Highway 25 in Jackson, said the event �has been busy.�

�I�ve talked to people at other houses and it has been the same thing: extremely busy,� she said. �I think it�s going to be a huge success.�

Casie Mills of Area Properties Real Estate and owner of one of the homes on the tour at 335 Monterra in Cape Girardeau said she and her husband recently built their home and designed it to be centered on �family living� with �very practical� aesthetics and a �southern flair.�

Mills said Tours for Hope planning and brainstorming was nearly a year in the making.

�We wanted to give people a little bit of everything. We knew right away we wanted to do this for Hope for One More,� Mills said. �(Hope for One More founders) Paul and Dawn Caruso are amazing.�

Mills said she has several close friends who are foster parents and has witnessed their ups and downs. She said it requires a �very amazing and special family� to do what they do.

�I don�t know if I could do it, but the next best thing we could do is just support them,� she said.

Erin Wilson, homeowner of 290 Greystone Ridge in Jackson, said she�s happy to be involved with this year�s tour and believes Hope for One More to be �a great organization.�

Wilson said she and her family have lived in the home for nearly three years and have lived in Jackson for 10 years. She described her home as having a �craftsman-style.�

�It�s different; it doesn�t really fit into a mold,� Wilson said. �It�s eclectic, with lots of concert posters downstairs and family antiques.�

Kim Taylor of Area Properties Real Estate, was at the home Saturday and said in addition to the brokers being associated with the founders of Hope for One More, her daughter attends Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau, which she said does volunteer work with the Hope House in Jackson.

As for this weekend, Taylor said the tour �just fit� because of the connection through the bank and real estate agents.

Taylor said there is a need for volunteers at next year�s Tours for Hope, in addition to homes to showcase.

�It would be great if some people step up because it�s a great cause. There�s a lot of need and they actually need money for another home (like Hope Children�s Home),� she said.

Hope for One More board member Derieck Hodges said there are 400 local children within the foster care system and �there aren�t enough foster parents.�

Hodges said he wants individuals who are considering becoming foster parents to know they are not alone.

�What we�re trying to do is shine a light on that, trying to engage people to consider becoming foster parents,� Hodges said. �What I try to do is empower them to feel more equipped and supported.�

Hope for One More was founded by Paul and Dawn Caruso in 2010 with the idea of just �a single home,� Paul Caruso said, as the main focus.

Paul Caruso said he and his wife ended up buying the home that became Hope Children�s Home in Jackson at 709 E. Main around that same time.

�It was an old law office so it needed to be converted,� he said. �We immediately had people volunteer to come in and do the construction.�

Soon after, he and his wife Dawn decided to begin advocating for foster parents. He said through his wife�s training and recruitment efforts, they have been able to triple the number of foster parents within Southeast Missouri.

�It�s still not enough, but all of this came from one home,� Paul Caruso said.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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