WALNUT RIDGE — The children are called guests, and some of them have never slept in a bed.
“Some of them have never slept between sheets,” said Joyce Rose, who was a volunteer interim administrator for The Children’s Shelter in Walnut Ridge. “Some of the children come with nothing, and if they come from a meth house, their clothes will have to be thrown away.”
The Children’s Shelter celebrated its first year in July, and 245 children from 22 counties have passed through the doors, including all of the counties in the Three Rivers area. The shelter is set up to take children from 5 to 12 years old; however, Rose said, there are circumstances when children who are younger or older are accepted.
Each bedroom was adopted by a group, organization or individual and decorated in an age- and gender-appropriate theme.
“We can take children younger if they have a sibling in that age group,” Rose said. “We have a 17-year-old mother and her 2-year-old baby. DHS can make some other exceptions.”
The children usually stay at the shelter between 45 and 90 days before they are allowed to go back home or are placed with a family member or foster family.
It took Judy Turnbull almost three years to make her vision come to life.
“I was a CASA volunteer, and I was retired,” Turnbull said. “I volunteered to watch over displaced children, and as a CASA volunteer, we work for the best interest of the child.”
A Court Appointed Special Advocate checks on displaced children and reports to the judge as a voice for them.
“I saw so many children come in, and their parents were drug users,” Turnbull said. “They would test hot (on a drug test) and cry, beg and plead ‘I’ll never do it again,’ and sometimes the judge would give [the children] back, and [the parents would] test hot again.”
Turnbull said foster families are customized, and many of them take children of a certain age or sex.
“I just saw a big need, and I was privileged to be raised middle class with parents who loved me, fed me three meals a day, cared about where I played and who I was with,” Turnbull said. “I had to have a bath every night and brush my teeth. I was shocked when I’d go to these homes and see children sleeping on a bare, dirty mattress — food from the day before sitting around, dog feces and piles of dirty clothes.
“Their environment plays a big part on their mental health. You’ve got a poverty cycle that just goes on and on. [The shelter] is a clean, healthy environment for kids.”
When the children arrive, they are given a box containing hygiene products and are allowed to choose a blanket, which they take with them when they leave.
The shelter is also on a national pajama program and twice a year receives a box of new pajamas for the children.
“Every kid needs pajamas and a book that you can read to them, and they get to take them with them (when they leave the shelter),” Turnbull said.
“We try to make sure they have new clothes to wear to school, and they all had new backpacks and school supplies,” Rose added.
Although the shelter has served many children, it almost closed its doors before its first anniversary because of financial hardship.
“I almost pulled the plug in June because our funding was down,” Turnbull said.
The shelter gets $25 each day per child from the state and relies on donations and fundraisers to cover the rest of the budget. The shelter is required to have two staff members on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We have utilities and a building payment and a van with gas, maintenance and insurance,” Rose said. “You can imagine how much toilet paper and paper towels we go through.”
“This place is not geared to make a profit,” Turnbull added.
Before Lisa Huffstedler became the shelter’s new permanent administrator, Rose and Michele Culbreath took turns volunteering more than 500 hours at the helm after the previous administrator abruptly quit.
“Every worker and volunteer here does what’s best for the children,” Huffstedler said. “I think the kids think this is their home now; they perceive this as their home and not a shelter.”
To make a donation or offer volunteer services to the shelter, call (870) 886-5191.