Lea's Booklet

Dear Friends of Hope Dolls,

My name is Lea Lakeside-Scott and I began Hope Dolls with a passion for abused children and a personal knowledge of the pain these children carry into adulthood. I believed then that one person can make the difference in an at-risk teen’s life. I still believe that, but I have learned that by combining my passion with the gifts and talents of the community, we are able to reach out to more teens and be more effective. I am asking you today to become involved with breaking the cycle that begins with the abuse of a child.

I was a child of immigrants immersed in poverty, and am the only one of four who overcame the horrific abuse inflicted in my home. My other three siblings chose lifestyles of crime and abuse which resulted in their premature deaths. 

Initially, due to my sense of hopelessness, I also made choices that put my future at- risk. The only difference was one woman who reached out to me, showed me that I had value and made the difference between life and death.

I know the value of one person caring enough to mentor another. Without this one person, I would have been another statistic. Instead I worked hard to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and raised two children as a single mother.

I always dreamed of having a doll of my own as a child (something to hug and hold when I wasn’t hugged or held), and as an adult I began a project to provide beautiful dolls for children who had been abused. The dolls became my symbol of all that is lost through neglect and abuse.

In 2000, the volunteer coordinator of Donald E. Long Youth Detention Center in Multnomah, County Oregon approached me about spending my Saturdays working with the girls in detention. My initial goal was to have the girls take broken dolls and fix them for little girls of low-income and domestic violence homes.

I figured this would help these girls to give back to the community and take something that was ragged and worn and make it beautiful. What a wonderful picture of the possibilities for their life! It would also give the little girls something they could cherish that could ease their pain.

My passion has not diminished, and the needs have not lessened. I now work full-time assuring the Hope Doll Youth Center is a safe and nurturing setting for the at risk teens. Please join me as I continue to help those who have been hurt by the ones who were called to love them. We may be their last hope!

With love,

Lea

The Problem

It is a well known fact that children who grow up with abuse and neglect are more likely to grow up to be adult offenders.

According to Childabuse.com:

• More than 2.9 million reports of possible maltreatment involving children were made to child protective service agencies in calendar year 2003.

• The actual incidence of abuse and neglect is estimated to be three times greater than the number reported to authorities.

• Child abuse is reported-on average-every 10 seconds.

• Men and women serving time in the nation's prisons and jails report a higher incidence of abuse as children than the general population.

• Research has found that repeated sexual abuse is related to substance abuse.

• As many as 15 million young people are at-risk of not reaching productive adulthood-falling prey to crime, drugs and other problems.

• About 1.5 million children have a father or mother in prison

• Over half a million children are in foster care, more than one fifth of whom are awaiting adoption

• In 1997, more than one million babies were born to unwed mothers, many of them barely past their own teen years

• More than one out of six American families with children lives on an annual income of $17,000 or less.

• In the Portland area alone we have 6,000 foster teens, and over one-third of them get abandoned to the streets without any kind of job skills

• The emotional and mental impact of abuse can only be broken in a supportive environment where teens feel safe enough to discuss his or her pain with someone who will listen without judging

The Solution

Circle of Hope Project involves a youth center and thrift store where at risk teens become part of the solution.  Hope Dolls is breaking the cycle of domestic abuse by teaching self-sufficiency skills and effective problem solving.

At-risk youth need a safe environment where they can be mentored in life skills and learn a marketable skill.

1. Juveniles in detention centers need to have a sense of purpose in or to change the direction of their lives.

2. Children in domestic violence situations need help to ease the pain as their mothers try to improve their lives.

3. The general public needs an understanding of the effect of domestic violence and how their involvement can help break the cycle.

Hope Dolls Mission

Hope Dolls encourages youth development with a community of volunteers interacting with incarcerated juveniles and at-risk youths.

Imagine a place where at risk teens can come for unique job training and mentoring. In this homelike atmosphere staff and volunteers make children feel safe and loved, perhaps for the first time. This is a training center where they can learn skills necessary to support themselves in an encouraging environment that promotes possibility and personal challenges.

• Youth development succeeds in ending the cycle of violence and abuse.

• The Circle of Hope Project utilizes love, computer technology and life skills to reach at risk teens and victims of domestic violence.

• Our youth center and thrift store provides a safe haven where at-risk teens are taught career skills that they would be unable to obtain elsewhere.

• Hope Dolls sets an example for at-risk youths by showing them the need for their active participation in the community.

• The teens are evaluated and assisted in finding the best position for their personal skill set.

• When we give teens the chance to succeed on their own, they realize the potential they possess.

The Plan

• Understanding the prevalence of video games and that technology is not going away, Hope Dolls utilizes computers and computer programs to help develop creativity, respect, personal growth and other tools necessary to survive in today’s world.

• At-risk teens are taught computer and business skills to build self esteem and also learn essential employment basics.

• Hope Dolls Thrift Store provides clothing and necessities to low income and at risk adults to assist with job search. The store collaborates with other agencies and when a client has been screened by partner agencies, the client is able to receive quality-donated clothing.

• Hope dolls provides guidance, equipment and donated items for basic needs.

• The Circle of Hope Project allows the adult prisoner to make things to raise money for the at risk teens to help keep them out of prison. We want the teens to then make things for the children of domestic violence who will then know that they are loved. We need generous donors to complete the process.

The Needs

The problem of abused children is not going away. Your tax-deductible donation to Hope Dolls will help at risk teens to learn new skills and build their self-esteem.

Please join us and become the solution for those who only learned pain from those who should have given comfort. Let’s stop the cycle of hurting in this generation!

• $80.00 will mentor 6 teens for 1 day-providing unique one on one business skill training

• $35.00 will provide 2 full outfits for an unemployed adult or teen

• $500.00 will allow us to purchase new computer equipment to provide training for one more at risk teen

Our History

"Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime."  Chinese Proverb

Hope Dolls began in April 2000. Its mission was to create a support network that reached out to children of abuse and poverty, and men and women women in correctional facilities. Beginning with used, donated dolls, girls at the detention center would clean and dress the dolls in clothing made by women in correctional facilities and volunteers. The dolls were then delivered to children in shelters, mental health facilities and low-income housing projects.

Lea started out by developing a program to restore and distribute dolls because they are characteristic of the abuse she endured as a child.  She would watch other children play with their toys and wish that she had only one of her own. She wanted to provide something for children to hug and love who have not experienced love themselves.

The program was so successful that in 2000, Lea acquired a small basement space in which to mentor additional girls. In 2001, a 1,300 square foot facility

was obtained which soon proved inadequate for the ever-increasing scope of Hope Dolls. Three years later a 2,300 square foot thrift store and youth center was opened. At that time, Hope Dolls expanded to include toys for boys and changed the name to “Hope Dolls, Planes and Trains”.

Over the last four years the program has gone from a crafting programs that allowed for great mentorship’s, to a great computer/on-line ecommerce center where we teach teens computer and self-sufficiency skills. 

The Circle of Hope Project utilizes LOVE, COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, and LIFE SKILLS to aid at-risk teens and victims of domestic violence.

The Circle of Hope Project is our youth center and thrift store currently located at 4926 SE Division, Portland OR . This center provides a safe haven where troubled teens do a multitude of projects that include restoring toys for abused children, learning life skills, computer skills and on-line ecommerce sales. The teens are mentored and cared for in a safe and nurturing environment.

Through the on-line ecommerce project, the teens work independently learning marketing, accounting, effective communication, along with computer skills and self-sufficiency.

Hope Dolls also provides clothing and necessities to low-income and at-risk adults.

Where We are Today

From January to May of 2005-

• 264 at risk teens were provided clothing and necessities for free.  The clothing alone would have been worth more than $40,000 at our cost of top brand-name for only $4 each. The additional necessities provided would have been in excess of $40,000 (new baby clothing etc. for pregnant and parenting teens.)  These same teens were provided one-on-one mentoring with adult staff throughout their community service projects.

• 309 volunteers and 221 community service workers donated their labor to Hope Dolls. If wages had been paid, it would have cost more that $635,000.  These adults were also mentored and worked with one-on-one so provide them with the knowledge that if they improve their lives, their children will have better lives.

• 170 adults were given clothing and necessities for free. The clothing alone would have totaled $3,400 at our cost of $4 each and the additional necessities of furniture, food, etc. would have exceeded $50,000.

• The need continues to grow, but our budget has not allowed for the salaries that are necessary to insure stability for our clients. We need to be able to provide training and quality assurance for volunteers and staff.

Our Vision for the Future

Over the last four years, the program has grown from a crafting program that allowed for great mentorship to a one of a kind on-line ecommerce computer center where teens are taught computer skills and self-sufficiency.

Collaborating Agencies

Hope Dolls collaborates with other agencies to provide full service without duplication. By helping us, you help many.  Below is a list of some of the agencies we share our resources with.