Sonya Leonard
Last week, Realtors from the Charlotte Regional Realtor’s Association’s Northern Region (Iredell and N. Mecklenburg) enjoyed a holiday luncheon at the Statesville Civic Center. Along with our usual fundraising activities for the Housing Opportunity Foundation and bringing toys for donation to the Salvation Army, we had very special guests as speakers after lunch. Sonya Leonard, an Iredell area Realtor, introduced Brenda Speece of Children’s Homes of Iredell County. Earlier in the year, Sonya nominated Children’s Homes of Iredell County for one of the HOF’s Community Grants Awards, and they later became a recipient of a sizeable contribution from HOF. Brenda was asked to speak to the group about the work of her organization.
Brenda described how they provide a stable home-like situation for local foster children, but the surprising thing is that they also have a remarkable transitional program.
Brenda Speece and Rayna
Think about what happens to a kid when he or she ages out of the foster program. How do they then survive? Do they even know how to survive without getting into negative circumstances. The goal of the transitional program is to answer that need by giving them a place to live, help in securing employment, or even help in pursuing further education. What a great way to improve the odds of these kids growing up to be positive contributors to the community!
At our luncheon, Brenda went into a bit of detail about their work, then invited one of the youth who’s been in program, Rayna, to come up a tell us what it meant to her. Rayna was clearly very appreciative of the work of Brenda Speece and Children’s Homes of Iredell County and what it has meant to the quality of her life and future prospects. The Realtors that day left with a greater appreciation for what they, and anyone, can do to put light into the lives of those who need a break.
You can help too, by contacting Brenda Speece at Brenda.speece@chomesofiredell.com, or call her at 704-768.2719. They operate a thrift store at 224 N. Center St. in Statesville to provide employment for the kids and raise money for the organization. From the photos I saw on their Facebook page (found HERE), it looks like they’ve got some great, high-quality items for sale. I’d say it’s worth a trip or two or three, for a variety of reasons!
