perspectives
By Gary Christ

Boys Hope/Girls Hope:
Turning A Dream Into A Reality

For most of us, the opportunity to attend a quality school in order to prepare for college, and having the support of caring adults while living in a stable home environment, is something we simply take for granted. Many children, through no fault of their own, have no hope of exploring their potential or realizing their dreams—their primary focus is surviving.

For 25 years, Boys Hope/Girls Hope has been offering hope and opportunity to such boys and girls, helping them realize their dreams and potential by providing value-centered, family-like homes and quality education through college.

The majority of the children who come to Boys Hope/Girls Hope do so because of the death or absence of a parent. Many of these children are minorities who come from the "inner city." These children are not criminals. They are not wards of the court. They are carefully screened by educators and other professionals to assure their ability to ultimately attend college.

The program from its inception has been incredibly successful and now operates 38 homes in 17 cities in this country. Every child who has gone through this program has graduated from high school and gone on to college—an astonishing record by any standard. Furthermore, the college graduation rate of these selected children is well above the national average.

These young people have distinguished themselves by attending Harvard Law School, Dartmouth, West Point, the Air Force Academy, Georgetown, Boston College and many other prestigious national universities. They are serving their communities and country in such capacities as doctors, ministers, teachers, high-school principals, engineers, and military officers.

So what is the problem? Much of the controversy is related to the misperception that Boys Hope/Girls Hope failed to adequately discuss its plans with the residents of Verona Hills prior to the purchase of the house. The actual facts are that a month before purchasing the home, representatives of Boys Hope/Girls Hope, on their own initiative, met with more than 60 residents and three of the five members of the Board of Verona Hills to discuss the program. Several requests by Boys Hope/Girls Hope to meet with the full board went unanswered. Only then was the home purchased.

Public safety and property values are legitimate concerns for homeowners, but these concerns must be supported by the facts. The reality is that the facts in this instance just do not support any such concerns. Numerous studies have shown that group homes have no negative effects on property values, crime or the quality of the neighborhoods, such as Verona Hills.

The zoning laws of Kansas City recognize these facts and specifically provide that in a neighborhood zoned such as Verona Hills, a "family" can consist of eight unrelated people and two adults if those eight people are "mentally retarded or physically handicapped." The Federal Fair Housing Act also specifically allows having eight unrelated young people and three houseparents, such as proposed by Boys Hope/Girls Hope.

We find it very curious that there can be eight mentally retarded or physically handicapped children in a house in Verona Hills, but there is such opposition to having eight academically talented children in Verona Hills.

Boys Hope/Girls Hope petitioned the City to allow it to start the program with three children and two house-parents. This was approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment as being in conformance with the City Ordinances. Verona Hills then filed a lawsuit and sought a restraining order to stop Boys Hope/Girls Hope from using the home for these three boys. Verona Hills keeps saying this is a zoning issue, but if it is, then why are they suing the City to overturn the City’s own zoning laws?

With 38 Boys Hope/Girls Hope homes across the country, some in gated communities, property values have not declined in these communities. The same will be true of Verona Hills. The experience in every one of the communities across the country where our homes are located has been a positive one. We are looked upon as valued members of their neighborhoods. All we ask is a chance. The children we serve deserve this chance.

Gary Christ is executive director of Boys Hope/Girls Hope in the Kansas City Area. He can be reached at gchrist@bhgh.org

The views expressed in this column are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Ingram’s