Vol. 1, No. 1 December, 2001
Rachel News
In this Issue:
Pamela Hoch, Director of Programs
We at the Rachel Foundation have many, many reasons to give thanks. In October, we completed our first full year of operations and even we look back in awe at what’s been accomplished.
In October, 2000 we had just incorporated the Rachel Foundation, and believed we would have perhaps six months to get organized – to develop our programs, to establish links to other professionals and to obtain initial funding. We could not have been farther from the truth! The first Rachel family arrived on October 14 – a "Hague" case involving a young child abducted from the U.K., and we’ve had a non-stop stream of families ever since.
When we sat down to assemble some statistics, Bob and I were staggered to realize that since October, 2000 we have served 134 families with 183 children. These families came from 29 United States and 17 foreign countries. We also remember, though, with deep sadness, the families we could not serve, simply because, absent any sort of sustaining funding, we didn’t have the money or the means to help them.
Children Served in the United States
Here are some of the details. Since October 2000, the Rachel Foundation:
Designed, peer reviewed, and implemented a structured,
residential reintegration program ("Bridges") for returning abducted
and alienated children and families.
Fielded more than 300 inquiries for information or
assistance.
Were appointed by United States Federal courts in two states
to care for reuniting families. The first came barely eight days after we
incorporated! We also helped other families through State courts.
Designed a short-term residential access and visitation
program ("Footsteps"). Based on the Bridges program, Footsteps aims to
prevent abduction and severe alienation by safe alternatives in high conflict
family situations
Built collaborative alliances with national and state
organizations working in the field of child abduction, abuse and neglect.
Provided reintegration training to law enforcement agencies,
mental health professionals and social service agencies. The list continues to
grow.
If you ask how we’ve done this, I can only answer that we’re moving forward one miracle at a time. Each day brings its own set of challenges, each more demanding that before. But each day also brings its own list of miracles. These solutions that come "totally out of the blue" often are small, but each is important.
Together, these miracles have led the Rachel Foundation to where it is today. In the months ahead, we plan to expand our Board of Directors and to develop Rachel’s organization more formally. We will seek sustaining funding, both from government and from private sources.
But most importantly, we will work towards the day when we do not have to turn a family away because of lack of money or resources to help them.
Bob Hoch, Director of Operations
Welcome to this, our first newsletter. We have much to tell you about – so much, in fact, that it will take a couple of issues to tell you all that’s happened. We’ve tried to present something that’s packed with information and fun to read, but we know it will take a while to get the format down pat.
In this issue, we’ll tell you about the Rachel Foundation’s achievements in its first year of operations, as well as begin introducing you to people who help make the Rachel Foundation a reality. In the future, we’ll introduce you to others who help make Rachel a reality.
We’ll also introduce you to some features we plan to present regularly. On the Inside, for example, will feature comments from people who help us steer Rachel on a helpful course. What’s New will feature news bytes, and Networking will highlight links to useful web sites.
My favorite though is PG-TYG, which mirrors something Pamela has done for years. PG-TYG is two lists. "Please God" is a list of needs – things we need, but have no clue how they’re to be obtained. "Thank You God" itemizes PG items we’ve received. Incidentally, the original PG-TYG list is on our refrigerator door
We want to share the list with you through our newsletter. Who knows? You might be one of God’s angels just waiting to help out.
The Rachel Foundation has a new logo! While we have an attractive letterhead, we needed a unique symbol we could use as a web link icon, a logo that reflects our mission and objectives. As with many things you see in the Rachel Foundation, the logo draws from our past and points us toward the future.
The Past. In 1996, Pamela attended a "visioning" seminar – you know, one of those personal development courses that help us focus our goals and objectives. The facilitator asked the students to use a marking pen to draw on a large piece of paper a picture of where they thought they would be five years in the future.
Pamela drew a house. A big home, with sunshine and flowers and animals, with children walking up the pathway to the front door and adults approaching from the back. There was a small cottage to one side. Her colleagues asked if she would be living in the big house. Pamela replied, "No, we’ll live in the smaller one." But when they asked her what the big house stood for, she was at a loss to explain what she’d drawn. She tucked her sketch away in a box...
Fast forward to Spring 2001. At that point, we met Bryan and Tracy Capello. Bryan is a graphic designer who created the 100th Recovery Celebration logo for ADVO's missing children program. ADVO, Inc., headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut, publishes and produces the missing children flyers that appear in your mailbox every week. Tracy helps produce "Reunion" magazine, and she also manages ADVO's missing children program in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. http://www.advo.com/html/corp/child.shtml
Bryan offered to design a logo for us, and produced a concept that uncannily resembled Pamela’s sketch! We dug the original out of its dusty box, made a few minor adjustments, and there you have the logo at the top of this newsletter!
The Future. We see that drawing as foreshadowing one of our key goals – Rachel House. Children walking through one door and adults through another. A warm, restful, safe haven designed specifically to help broken families reintegrate and get on with their lives.
That will take time and money and a whole lot of miracles. For now, it’s our logo and a dusty sketch...
Our donors who keep us open.
The families and children who enrich our work and expand our understanding.
Advisory Board members who generously give time and expertise to help develop our programs.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Polly Klaas Foundation for their continuous support and collaboration.
Ron Laney, Director, Child Protection Division, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for start-up funding.
Maryland Delegates Paul Carlson and Dana Lee Dembrow, as well as Paul’s legislative aide, Lori Pepper.
Wesley Grove United Methodist Church, Darnestown Presbyterian Women, Gaithersburg Lions Club, The King Burdette Family Reunion.
Montgomery County Young Dems – proceeds of their yummy cookbook will go to the Rachel Foundation,
John Worden, Baltimore County Police Department, Carla Proudfoot, Maryland State Clearing House and Joan Taavon, Maryland Missing and Exploited Children’s Association, for their support and wise counsel.
Bryan and Tracy Capello and ADVO Reunion Magazine – for our logo, and a great article in "Reunion".
Carol Bullard-Bates and Kent Beduhn, Leann van den Bosch and Nico Cheston who requested donations for the Rachel Foundation in lieu of wedding gifts.
Volunteers Colleen Books, Maryland, and Deborah Clements, Florida
The Rostykus family, for their generosity
Wilfrid von Boch Galhau, psychiatrist from Germany who spent two weeks "shadowing" our work, and who brought us such valuable perspectives.
Many people ask us why we chose to name the foundation "Rachel." Most assume that we named it after one of our children. While Bob does have a daughter named Rachel, she is not the origin of the foundation’s name.
There was a time many years ago when Pamela was struggling to keep her children. They had been severely alienated, and she was in the midst of a prolonged court battle. These were the times when reunifications were clumsy and professionals deemed reintegration all but impossible. (Actually, things haven’t yet changed that much, which is why we’re here!)
The day came when a psychologist advised Pamela that her situation was hopeless and that she would be better off by far to just put the whole matter behind her and get on with her life.
Pamela was devastated. She tried to imagine life without her children, but couldn’t. Surely, she felt, God has abandoned me. Before giving up completely, though, she reached for her Bible to check in with God one last time.
Quite by accident, the Bible fell open to the passage from Jeremiah that says: "A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping. It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because her children are no more."
Pamela threw the Bible aside and fell to the floor weeping. But a tiny inner voice spoke softly, urging her to read on. "Not bloody likely," she said. "Enough! I’ve had it!"
Once again the voice spoke, a little more insistently, "Read on." This time Pamela had the perfect excuse. "I’ve closed the Bible," she said. "I have no idea where I read those words. I could never find them again!"
Nevertheless, Pamela picked herself up from the floor, retrieved the Bible and reluctantly let it fall open again. Incredibly, it opened to the very same page and Pamela read on, transfixed.
‘Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears,’ she read, ‘for the Lord is pleased with the work you will do. ‘They will return from the land of the enemy, so there is hope for your future,’ declares the Lord. ‘Your children will return to their own land..’
Says Pamela, "As I read those words, my life and my future were transformed. At that moment I claimed those words as God’s promise to me. A new energy born of hope filled my heart, and I resolved never, ever to give up on loving my children."
From that beginning, Pamela started a journey that continues to this day. She finished her court battles, winning a landmark decision and successfully reintegrating with her children. She started working with others who contacted her, having learned of her story through the media. She founded a self-help group and started to envision and develop solutions, practical, workable, affordable reintegration solutions based on her own and others experiences.
Pamela and Bob registered the http://www.rachelfoundation.org/ domain name on September 12, 2000. Incorporation followed on October 6, 2000. And every day since has been the experience of bringing Rachel’s promise, Rachel’s message of hope, to families torn apart by abduction and alienation.
So when it came time to name the Foundation – was there even a choice?
Pamela adds: "I have three special, personal ‘Thank you’s’ For years, I kept this story to myself for fear of being misjudged. Teachers and fellow students at the Servant Leadership School in Washington DC. encouraged me to tell my story for the first time. Speaking forth brought me strength,, courage and conviction I never knew existed..
Still I faltered. So I called my friend and collaborator, Marsha Gilmer Tullis at the National Center. I explained my hesitation and asked her if we should use the name "Rachel." Marsha didn’t hesitate for a second.. "Go for it, girl!" she said.
My third "Thank you" goes to my beloved husband and partner Bob. It was he who, on the evening of September 12th 2000 said "It’s not the Rachel Project anymore, now it’s the Rachel Foundation".
Please God:
Help us serve every single family who needs reintegration, regardless of income or location.
Help us develop a professional certification program, as well as the people, expertise and equipment this requires.
Help us produce guidebooks, videos and workbooks on reintegration.
Help us pay our salaries and expenses.
Please – a proper telephone system
and
a third computer for the office.
Thank you God:
For providing gracious donors who have helped us through the past year. Their generosity surely is one of Your gifts.
For helping us develop a fledgling network of professional collaborators who have helped us extend our reach throughout 29 States and 17 countries.
For the small startup grant from the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. Without this, we would never have survived 2001, nor would we have progressed as rapidly in developing our administrative capabilities.
For providing a proper fax/copier, a computer network and broadband satellite internet service.
Thanks to Mariellen, we have started two chatrooms, one for left behind parents, one for adult children of abduction and alienation. These provide a safe, confidential forum for exchange and support. To access, go to our website and follow instructions.
Welcome new additions to our resources:
Barbara Dear – who coordinates and runs our administration and keeps our grey hairs from becoming even more numerous!
Meade Gelston, TBS Consulting – Meade has taken over our bookeeping and financial administration, to Bob’s great relief.
Jim Stephenson, Alladin Computers, who established our internal computer network.