The Hope Center: Magic Inside

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by The Hope Center at Gwinnett Estates, an after-school program based out of a single-wide trailer in a local neighborhood. The Hope Center is a ministry of Graystone Church, but its story - and its vision - comes from the whole community.

If you know Loganville/Grayson, then you probably have no idea where Gwinnett Estates is. Chances are you're probably wondering why a neighborhood called "Gwinnett Estates" would even need a single-wide trailer for after-school tutoring, mentoring, games and other education classes. You might think to yourself, "Sure, ministry to the privileged few."

If so, you'd be wrong. Dead wrong.

Gwinnett Estates is a trailer park. That's not to be mean or denegrate the neighborhood in any way, but that's how most people around here refer to neighborhoods like Gwinnett Estates. Only we usually don't just say trailer park, flat, with no inflection; we say trailer park and load the words with something between a mixture of pity, contempt and fear. And while not everyone says it that way, almost everyone shares something in common when it comes to Gwinnett Estates:

We've never set foot on the property.

That was true for Jim Hollandsworth and his wife, Melinda, when they first drove into the neighborhood a few years ago to deliver Christmas presents. Working in conjunction with the Southeast Gwinnett Co-Op, Jim and Melinda's small group had agreed to sponsor a family for Christmas, providing gifts and other necessities; that family had nine kids and really needed help.

"When we pulled in," Jim said, "it was literally like driving into another world."

The family they sponsored lived in a single-wide trailer. Jim and Melinda filled the home with gifts and food and joy, and were so touched by the family's gratitude that they made a pledge to each other to come back and check on the family from time to time.

"We felt like there was something more we could do here, but we didn't know what," Jim said. "So we decided to just get to know the needs and wait for God to say something."

Soon enough, on one of their visits, one of the kids asked Jim, "Do you guys help with school stuff?"

That's all it took for Jim and Melinda to help mobilize their church and start gathering together supplies for the neighborhood. As the church collected gear ranging from backpacks to pencils to notebooks and beyond, Jim and Melinda handed out fliers around Gwinnett Estates promoting a back-to-school cookout where school supplies would be given away.

When the cookout rolled around, over 300 kids showed up.

Jim and Melinda were staggered. They had to be able to do more.

So they approached the neighborhood's management staff about starting an after-school tutoring program, once a week, for anyone who might need the help. The staff agreed to let them try, and so the pair started meeting in the office to help kids. Soon it was twice a week; then three; and then there wasn't enough room. Kids came from all over the place for help with everything from spelling three letter words to mixed-numbers.

And Jim learned a lot too. One day, one of the kids looked at him and said, "So when are you guys leaving?"

"What do you mean?" Jim asked.

"You know, leaving? Churches usually just come and hand you something and tell you you're going to hell and then leave."

The reality of that statement bothered Jim. Shook him, really. So when the management came to Jim a few weeks later and offered him a trailer within the neighborhood for next to nothing, Jim approached his church family and they made the decision: we're not leaving. The church purchased that single-wide and a team of volunteers gutted it and renovated it and turned it into a bright center for learning. Thus was The Hope Center born.

That will have been two years ago come this April.

The Hope Center is still growning. They not only serve elementary school kids Monday-Thursday from 4-6, but they also offer help to middle and high school students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-6 (they don't mix elementary and the older kids; on the days when the older ones come in, the little ones only go from 4-5). Also on Tuesdays and Thursdays are the English classes for adults that start at 6 PM.

In the summer, they host bible camps. At Christmas, they throw a party. And perhaps most special of all, when report card time comes around, they get the principals and administrators of the local school to come to the Center and meet with the kids to celebrate their achievements in learning, as well as meet with the parents to discuss concerns.

I learned all of this in one hour yesterday afternoon, just by talking with Jim. He now oversees The Hope Center as part of his responsibilites as Missions and Outreach Pastor for Graystone. He has two people working for him that comprise the Center's staff, and the rest of the work done there is done by volunteers.

And those kind few fit no stereotype: when I was there yesterday, there were three high school students, two adults over 50, and Joe, one of the Center's staff members. Each volunteer was tirelessly working with a table full of kids, or moving from table to table to help out the 42 elementary school children needing help with basic concepts.

They even asked me to join in. I sat down next to one young man. He smilled at me with big brown eyes.

"What do you know about decimals and mixed-numbers?" he asked.

Next to nothing, it turns out. I received rescue when Joe came and took over for me. I wandered over and sat down next to a second grader.

"You're old," he said with a devilish grin. "Wanna help me with spelling pyramids? They're easy."

Spelling I can do. We worked for a few minutes until it was time for games (those who'd not finished their homework went to a different part of the trailer to finish). I watched all of this and felt - I don't know what I felt. Shame. Fear. Anxiety. Joy. Pride. My insides were like an overloaded washing machine, just clunking away.

But it was obvious what was going on inside everyone else: magic. Because that's what's always going on inside that single-wide trailer, every afternoon.