For abused children and teens, a place that fosters hope
Survivors of abuse and trafficking find solace and support at Place of Hope, with multiple locations across Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— Neglected. Abused. Traumatized. Forgotten.
After years of having nowhere to turn, there is finally hope for these young survivors.
Place of Hope (POH) is a nonprofit, faith-based, licensed childcare agency overseen by the Department of Children and Families. Since 2001, POH has served over 30,000 youth and families by providing foster care, family outreach and intervention services, housing, and rehabilitation for abused children and teens.
The youth at POH have been removed from dangerous situations and placed into foster care by the state of Florida, which in most cases becomes their legal guardian. Most minors at POH are there for shelter, and the majority have faced traumatic situations such as domestic abuse and human trafficking.
“In order to be removed from your home, the abuse has to be pretty egregious. So I know when they come in here they are very broken, very wounded, and very scared,” said Gina Fazio, director of clinical services.
Fazio has worked with POH for 17 years and has seen her fair share of traumatizing cases.
Not only does POH help abused youth, but the organization offers safety to undocumented and trafficked minors as well. At their Paxson Campus in West Palm Beach, which serves youth aged 3 to 19, there are currently seven kids who endured human trafficking; two were exploited in forced child labor, and five were exploited for sex. According to Fazio, many of these youths come from Guatemala.
POH has a designated team dedicated to supporting human trafficking survivors in their care by providing recovery services such as counseling, tutoring, professional case management, medical care, and life-skills development.
Some kids live at POH temporarily as they wait to get reunited with their parents. The reunification process includes co-parenting and providing resources to the parent(s), in hopes that the kid removed from the parent’s care will return to a safe home.
Approximately 30% to 40% of kids will not be reunited with their parents or adopted, instead aging out of foster care, said Fazio. POH strives to make sure each child and teen feels cared for and loved during their stay by making sure all of their physical, psychological, educational, and spiritual needs are met.
This can include contracting in-house trauma therapists and giving suitability assessments to determine if higher-level mental care is necessary, as every POH kid has different needs.
Fazio says that seeing what the kids go through in their time at POH is tough, but she loves witnessing the transformation of the kids in how they overcome their hardships and find themselves.
Vanessa Cisneros has been a foster parent, or Angel Parent, at POH for nearly two years. She heard about the organization through a family friend, who worked there as a relief parent herself.
“The most rewarding [part of being an Angel Parent] is when you finally breakthrough to a kid and they open up to you,” wrote Cisneros in a message. “Also probably my favorite and most rewarding is praying with them at night.”
Each kid is placed into a house at one of the POH locations with five other kids and a designated Angel Parent. Most homes are single-gendered unless there are siblings, which POH strives to keep together.
Cisneros shared that one of the most difficult parts of her job is when the kids transition out of foster care through reunification.
“Even though the goal of foster care is reunification, it’s hard to have kids leave after loving and caring for them, even though you are happy they get to go back to their family,” wrote Cisneros.
Jianna Figueroa was a volunteer at POH for four years, from January 2018 to December 2021, when she was officially hired as part of the team. She used to play with the kids at the Gray Fitness Center and help them with homework.
Figueroa feels that it is very easy to form a bond with the kids and then experience disappointment when they leave.
“You actually develop lifelong friendships with them,” said Figueroa.
Many teens in the foster care system are given no transitional support when they age out, but POH offers this support through their Villages of Hope program.
Villages of Hope, part of POH’s Extended Foster Care program, provides independent living, residential support, and life-skills development services to young adults aged 18 to 25.
There are multiple Villages of Hope locations from Broward to Indian River County.
At the Boca Raton location, the Alumni Impact Girls Cottage and Kelly Woods Fleming Extended Foster Care Cottage For Boys provide independent living opportunities and support to emancipated and otherwise homeless youth.
The Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Village houses homeless youth, trafficking survivors, and single parents in need of residential support and life-skills development services. Located within the village is The Gary Peters Family Transitional Housing Complex, which has two eight-bedroom apartments that house up to 16 young adults.
Peninsula Social Enterprises, located at The Lane Center in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, is the sister program of Villages of Hope. Through office space rentals and foster family recruitment and training events, Peninsula directly supports young adults living in one of the villages in financial and social well-being.
Peninsula has an in-house coffee shop and offers private conference rooms and individual workspaces for licensees. It is similar to a Starbucks, according to Figueroa, who is now the coordinator of Peninsula Social.
Figueroa oversees Peninsula Social on a day-to-day basis. She schedules meeting rooms for licensees, keeps track of rental payments, manages social media, gives tours, and more.
“My favorite part is being able to provide that personalized service for the licensees — for example knowing what their favorite drink order is and having it ready as a surprise when I see them pull into the driveway,” wrote Figueroa.
All proceeds from the in-house coffee shop and conference spaces at Peninsula Social go to the Villages of Hope.
