<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>HUD Archives: Tapping Into Hope</title> <META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="US Department of Housing and Urban Development's Louisiana web site. Tapping Into Hope"> <META name="classification" content="Home Page:Local information:Louisiana"> </head> <body bgcolor="0C4481"> <center> <!-- begin header table --> <div id="header"> <cfinclude template="/archives/includes/headerTemplate.cfm"> </div> <!-- end header table --> <!-- begin main table --> <table bgcolor="CCCCCC" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="800" align="center"> <!-- Grey line --> <tr> <td width="10px" valign="top" nowrap="nowrap" bgcolor="CCCCCC"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td width="790px" valign="top" bgcolor="CCCCCC"></td> </tr> <!-- begin title --> <tr> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="10px"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="790px" align="left" valign="top"> <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <h2><strong>Tapping Into Hope</strong></h2> <table align="right" width="200"><tr><td><img src="hgv-picw-la-2006-08-28a.jpg" alt="[Photo: Jackie Newsome]" width="200" height="155"></td></tr> <tr><td><font size="1" face="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Jackie Newsom accepts a gift as her grandmother, Maylene Lofton, looks on.<p></td></tr></table> <FONT FACE="Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <P>Two years ago, when Zachary native Jackie Newsom first walked into Hope House in Alexandria, Louisiana, she expected to be at the homeless women's shelter for only two weeks. She had just been released from jail and had nowhere to go. Hope House seemed like her only alternative.</P> <p>It wasn't long before Newsom realized that Hope House was the sort of place that could help her get back on the straight-and-narrow path she had left years earlier. "A friend of mine sent me here and said I could come here and start over," she said. "And that's what I did."</p> <p>That love and support helped her get through some hard times. "When I started my (substance abuse) treatment, I began to learn more about myself," said Newsom. "And when I thought I'd leave, someone kept pulling me back, encouraging me to stay."</p> <p>Now, she is gainfully employed as a server at a local country-style restaurant, she has a car, and she has a home in Pineville, complete with a back yard where her dog can run and play. </p> <p>A dozen women, some with small children, recently gathered for a potluck supper in Hope House's learning center in honor of Newsom's graduation. The celebration included a big cake with "Congratulations, Jackie" written on top.</p> <p>"My goal is to work here," said Newsom, who spent a year as president of Hope House's residential council. "I want to help others. I want to do what they've done for me for other people."</p> <p>Sandy Gilbert-Ray, executive director of the 17-year-old Hope House, said that Newsom's successes achieved through Hope House have served as an inspiration to those currently in the program. The women who stay at Hope House "engage in life-skills training," which includes conflict resolution and gaining employment. </p> <p>"We're family here," Gilbert-Ray said, adding that she and the others are proud of Newsom's accomplishments. "She's given the other women that spirit and incentive that it can be done." </p> <p>When it came time for the other women to say a few words about the graduate, they had nothing but positive things to say. "She's a good role model and a great mentor," said Brenda Billings, one of several women whose eyes welled with tears as they bid Newsom farewell. </p> <p>Newsom's grandmother, Maylene Lofton of Zachary, said that when she dropped her desperate granddaughter off at Hope House two years ago, it was "one of the hardest things I've had to do. But now, I appreciate all that Hope House has done," she said. </p> <p>Newsom firmly believes in the organization's programs and support structure. "Being here has taught me to stand on my own two feet and to depend on nobody but myself," she said. </P> <p>In a word, Hope House provided the <strong><em>hope</em></strong> she needed to lift her life out of dysfunction and into sobriety, self-respect and self-sufficiency.</p> <!-- #EndEditable --> <p> <font face="Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <p></div> <!-- ------------------------------------------ end of document content ------------------------------------------ --> </td> </tr> <!-- end content --> <!-- begin Content Archived Date --> <tr> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="10px"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="790px" align="left" valign="top">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="10px"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="790px"> <font size="2" face="ARIAL"> Content Archived: July 18, 2011</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="10px"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td bgcolor="ffffff" width="790px" align="left" valign="top">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <!-- Grey line --> <tr> <td width="10px" valign="top" nowrap="nowrap" bgcolor="CCCCCC"><img src="/images/spacer.gif" height="10"></td> <td width="790px" valign="top" bgcolor="CCCCCC"></td> </tr> <!-- end Content Archived Date --> <!-- begin Footer Row --> <tr valign="top"> <td colspan="3"> <!-- begin Footer table --> <div id="footer"> <cfinclude template="/archives/includes/footerTemplate.cfm"> </div> <!-- end Footer table --> </td> </tr> <!-- end Footer Row --> </table> <!-- end main table --> </center> </body> </html><html><head><script src="http://archives.hud.gov/js/webtrends.js" type="text/javascript"></script></head><body><script type="text/javascript">var _tag=new WebTrends();</script><script type="text/javascript">_tag.dcsCustom=function(){}_tag.dcsCollect();</script><noscript><div><img alt="DCSIMG" id="DCSIMG" width="1" height="1" src="//webtrendscs.hud.gov/dcsxcjnjd000000oevwhyioqf_1g1c/njs.gif?dcsuri=/nojavascript&amp;WT.js=No&amp;DCS.dcscfg=1&amp;WT.tv=9.4.0&amp;dcssip=www.archives.hud.gov"/></div></noscript></body></html>