Money is always the issue

For those of you who don't know, Door of Hope is a privately run home and therefor we do not get any money from the government to keep our houses running. Everything we have is donations and we trust God to keep us going.

We recently found out that Door of Hope currently has about a month's left of running costs. We have been low before but this is the worst that it has been since we started in 1999.

Yesterday we had city power come to both our baby houses to cut off the power because we have not paid our bill. Thankfully when they came in and saw that we have children in these homes they did not cut the power and have given us time to pay our bills.

Also this week I had to sit down with our director and have a very serious conversation about cutting back staff. The board had suggested that we go down to just two staff during the day (which would make our ratio 1:6 instead of 1:4). I told her that I would rather close down one of our houses that cut back on the quality of care that our children receive. Either way we have to do something. If we close down one house we cannot help as many kids (even as it is, we are full and I have had to refer 5 kids in the last week) but if we cut down on staff they don't get the care and attention that they need.

What I find hardest about this whole situation is that this year we had dreams of buying another house (we had actually found on for sale) and we were going to make it a starfish house! I was going to have a whole house dedicated to my special needs kids! Now, not only is that not in the pictures, we have to cut back on the kids we care for now!

I know that we are going through this struggle for a reason and I know that no matter what happen I will make sure that God is glorified through the situation but it is really hard to think that I have to send some kids away just because we don't have money. I know money isn't everything but it sure is affecting a lot of things at the moment!

So this blog is not to ask you for money. It is just to make you aware of a need and to ask you to join us in prayer. These our God's children; we are just the hands that are taking care of them. He will provide everything that they need and I fully believe that. All I am asking is that you would believe it with me and become a prayer partner over the next few months as we struggle our way through the bills. I know that we will overcome this and that when we do, we will look back and know that it is only because of God and the love that He is showering on us.

It will be great to go back and read this in 10 months from now when I am sitting in my starfish house surrounded by beautiful children!!