Faith & Hope Intervention Program in Lake City has become a provider of ABC vouchers, which make payments to child care providers so that parents in low-income families can work or attend school, program Director Paula Morris said.
The program became a voucher provider in September, after Morris joined the S.C. Afterschool Alliance, which helped her learn about funding opportunities and other resources, she said.
“It can help (parents) just to know their child is in a safe and secure place for those hours” until they get off work, Morris said.
The statewide ABC Child Care Program voucher system is funded through a federal grant program, according to the state Department of Social Services’ Child Care Services Web site.
Parents who participate in the voucher program must be either working or attending classes that will help them find a job, according to the site.
Faith & Hope Intervention Program, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, began in September 2004 as a “vision that came from God,” Morris said.
The program focuses on at-risk children and youths from preschool to age 17.
“Our job is to find out what’s causing (problematic) behavior,” Morris said.
Morris and Administrative Assistant Chewanda Barr help the children with homework, and the program is seeking a tutoring volunteer.
The program also offers spiritual or nonspiritual counseling, based on a parent’s preference.
“We don’t want to cross that barrier and make anyone feel unwelcome,” Morris said.
The program also refers students to places they can get help without getting them “tied up” in too much medication, Morris said.
Morris said she dealt with abuse when she was younger and can put herself “in the children’s place.”
“Going to school was not a pleasure for me,” she said.
In 1969, Morris dropped out of high school when she became pregnant with her first child, she said.
By 1990, however, she received her GED then received an associate’s from Williamsburg Technical College, she said. She went on to receive a bachelor’s in behavioral social science from Francis Marion University and a master’s in counseling from Webster University, and she is pursuing a master’s in educational administration from Grand Canyon University, she said.
Faith & Hope Intervention Program also is selling ads for the program’s first “souvenir book.”
The program also will hold a fundraiser banquet, “Children Live What They Learn,” with keynote speaker Mamie Harris of Lake City. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Lake City Pentecostal Holiness Church recreation facility. The cost of admission is a $15 donation, Morris said.
FAITH & HOPE INTERVENTION PROGRAM
For more information about the program, call Director Paula Morris at (843) 598-2236 or e-mail faithandhope501c3@yahoo.com. The program’s office is at 114-C Sauls St. in Lake City.
ON THE WEB
ABC Child Care Program: http://childcare.sc.gov/main/general/programs/abc/index.aspx
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