Family Of Survivors Offers Others Hope--

*The following is an article, posted in the local newspaper, The Herald-Sun on July 5, 2009*

Family of Survivors offers others Hope
By: John McCann
DURHAM --
Figuring they've been blessed to be a blessing, a family of self-described survivors is reaching out to the community by providing behavioral health care. There's Jeffrey Hester, who's in cancer remission. His wife, Tina, battled breast cancer and won.

Jessie Streeter, Tina Hester's sister, raised three kids by herself. She put them through college-while, the woman put herself through college, too.

Tewauna Patterson, Streeter's daughter, for years wanted her own family, and it finally happened for her.

Now, Rita Hester Pompey's story is remarkable. Pompey is Jeffrey Hester's sister, and June 24 marked three years since an uninsured motorist in Baltimore ran her down and left her in need of an artificial leg. There she was recovering in the hospital but ministering to the nurses who were supposed to be looking after her.

Their stories led them to the 2008 licensing of The HOPE Centre for Advancement LLC at 701 Morreene Road. HOPE stands for Helping Other People Excel. The organization provides services including helping people battling substance abuse, dealing with folks experiencing psychiatric problems, counseling those with various diseases, teaching life skills or working with individuals through a combination of those and other issues.

"We had all been blessed and thought we should pay it forward," said Pompey, The HOPE Centre's chief operations officer. "We've all been touched by substance abuse in our families."

The HOPE Centre in January began serving clients. Homeless people are part of the organization's clientele. The agency accepts private payments and various types of insurance.

The HOPE Centre is endorsed by The Durham Center, which manages contracts for mental-health, developmental-disability and substance-abuse services paid for by Medicaid, state and county dollars in Durham County. The Durham Center does not provide direct services but helps people get the services they need. The Durham Center's endorsement means The HOPE Centre met state guidelines.

Of the 19,000-20,000 people in Durham who need substance abuse treatment, only a fraction actually get help, said Tina Howard, a substance-abuse specialist with The Durham Center.

This family of survivors is determined to fill in those gaps where the help is lagging. To whom much is given, much is required -- that's their mantra.