Hope Children’s Home Needs Help

Megan’s* mother died when she was 16 months old, and her father was in the military. After he remarried, there was a custody conflict between him and her biological grandparents.

She was shuffled between different sides of the family and foster homes until she was 7. By the time she was able to take residence at Hope Children’s Home, 11415 Hope International Drive, Megan was left to piece together the life she had.

“When I first came to the Home, I was struggling a lot with accepting life," she said. "Patience was really all I needed. It’s also stability. Nothing really changes here. That especially helped me.”

But to remain afloat for kids like Megan, the Home - which receives no state or federal funding to provide on-campus housing and schooling for 70 children - needs donations.

Dave Riffe, administrator for the Hope Christian School, explained the need for help.

“We have a donations system. People donate cosmetic items, and everything that we have on this property is donated to us in some form or fashion,” Riffe said. “We take those items and give them to the kids or the staff where they’re needed."

Hope Children’s Home has other concerns as well, Riffe said.

“We run about a 16 to 18,000 dollar a month electric bill," he said. "We have to pay for the salaries and the upkeep of buildings. And it costs about $1,500 a year to educate a child."

At the moment, the home is trying to raise $1,800 for a child who needs nerve testing for which there is no insurance coverage. The school is also in need of new administrative software as well as seeking donations for their Endowment Scholarship Fund, which supports the nine children from Hope who are currently in college.

“By 2016, we’re going to have 26 kids in college, if everybody stays that is here presently,” Riffe said. “We raise money and put it into an endowment, so that the endowment will continue to generate funds for us every year to help pay for those kids to go to school.”

Riffe describes Hope Children’s Home as a faith driven alternative to foster care. The children come from lots of difficult backgrounds, Riffe said.

But the ministry’s goal is to eventually put the families back together.

“We take care of the children while the family gets the help that they need to overcome their problem, whether that is drugs, alcohol or sometimes the parents are in prison,” Riffe said. “Eventually we would like for those families to get back together. That’s the biblical situation for a family – mom, dad and the kids all living under the same roof.”

Riffe says that his work, although difficult, is rewarding. The 6 years that he and his family have spent caring for children who are abused or unwanted have been rewarded by seeing them finish high school and go off to college.

“We know that this is where God would have us,” Riffe said. “To see those kids grow up and be successful is the most rewarding part."

To donate funds to the Hope Children’s Home go to and click Donate Now or send a check to Hope Children’s Home Hope International Drive, Tampa, FL 33625. For more information about Hope Children’s Home, contact Dave Riffe at DRiffe@hopechildrenshome.org or call 813-961-1214 ext. 209.

*Patch is not using Megan’s last name due to HIPAA protective laws.