Lisa McDulin and Charles Bender
Place of Hope
Charles Bender has the receipts: namely, more than 250,000 youth and families cared for since inception; 3,400+ foster children who have experienced safety, stability and the love of a family; and 93,000+ community members educated on human trafficking. These are just a few of the statistics from Place of Hope, the nonprofit Bender and others founded in 1999. Today, Bender is CEO and a board member of the organization, and Lisa McDulin is VP of Advancement for South County. Since its inception on a single campus, the state-licensed residential child-caring agency has grown into the largest children-and-families organization in South Florida, with five campuses from Boca Raton to Martin County.
“We focus in on abused, neglected and abandoned children who are in state custody and foster care, and then we have a home for pregnant teens,” Bender says. “We run a lot of transitional affordable housing for aged-out foster youth and otherwise homeless families with children. And we residentially care for human trafficking survivors.”
Many are surprised at the amount of need for Place Hope’s services in a county as prosperous as Palm Beach. But as Bender points out, “child abuse or human trafficking do not affect only one socioeconomic group. These things happen right here in this spectacular paradise. The more metro we become and the more populated we become simply means we’re going to have more need.”
Place of Hope is in the midst of a capital campaign, called “God’s Children. Our Future,” that seeks to raise an additional $30 million over the next seven years to fulfill a $100 million goal of greatly expanding foster homes and affordable housing in the region. Donations of any amount are encouraged at placeofhope.com/donate.
PLACE OF HOPE
561-775-7195
placeofhope.com
