Cynthia and Freya, 11-year-old twins, and their 10-year-old sister Raven had been living with their father in a car. Their mother had left to look for work. The girls were on the verge of being placed into state custody when they were referred to Hope — just in time.
When staff helped the family unload the car, the conditions were heartbreaking. Their clothing — all of it — was stuffed into a single trash bag.
For Cynthia, Freya, and Raven, things most children take for granted — a bed of their own, a hot meal, a real shower — had become unreachable. That was about to change.
The girls were welcomed into one of Hope's cottage families. When they saw that each of them had her own bed — a stuffed animal waiting on the pillow, a pile of fresh clothes set aside just for her — the looks on their faces said everything.
That first evening, their cottage mom Lace suggested the girls take a shower. One of them stopped and quietly asked, "Will the water be hot?"
It was a small question. But it held the weight of everything these girls had been living without.
Food had been just as scarce. "When they were living in their car, the girls never ate three meals a day," Lace explains. "Most of the time they would get gas station food. They've been super excited to try new things and to be able to eat freely."
A warm bed. A hot shower. A full meal. For Cynthia, Freya, and Raven, these were more than comforts — they were signs that someone cared. And Hope's care went far deeper still.
The girls have loved going to church and often have questions about what they've learned from the Bible. They have found peace and joy being around God's people.
Julian, Cottage Dad
Cottage dad Julian has watched the change up close. The sisters started asking questions about Scripture. They began noticing the joy in the people around them at Hope and at church — and that joy started taking root in them, too.
Cynthia, Freya, and Raven are learning to believe again — in themselves, in their futures, and in a Heavenly Father who never forgot them. That's what happens when a child finds a true home at Hope.
