RIVERVIEW, Fla. — Hillsborough County’s first ‘Hope House’ will opening in the Riverview in the coming weeks, creating a new type of foster care environment for struggling teens.
Ran by the organization One Hope United, this will be the 10th ‘Hope House’ in Florida. Other locations are in Miami-Dade, Broward, Osceola, Volusia, and Pinellas counties.
What You Need To Know
New ‘Hope House’ is in Riverview subdivision
Children’s Network of Hillsborough County helping fund initiative
This new house will be specifically for girls ages 13-17
MORE: One Hope United
The house in Riverview will open soon as a new home for four teen girls from Hillsborough County. The teens will live at the home alongside foster parents, who provide the structure and stability of of a family setting. The home also has youth care workers, who are closer in age to the teens, who act more as mentors and friends to help guide the teens on the path to success.
A therapist is also assigned to help the teens in the home, creating a 5:4 ratio.
“By setting up our homes the way we do, we’ve created an atmosphere that reduces running,” explained Felicia Patterson with One Hope United Florida. “It stabilizes their mental health, reduces Baker Acts, recidivism, and given them a whole new structure and hope.”
While living in this new setup, teens are empowered to make choices about their bedrooms, goals, and daily lives. They also get support building resumes and finding jobs.
Four teens who are currently under DCF care will be selected to moved into the new ‘Hope House’ in the coming weeks.