Restoration Center ready to serve Hardeman County
The Restoration Center, a charitable non profit organization established to provide relief to the poor, distressed and underprivileged by advancement of basic education and career readiness skills, is in the final stages of preparing to open their doors to clients, hopefully by the first of February.
The vision for the Restoration Center came about a year and a half ago, when friends Katina Mays and Tina Coleman got together to come up with a ministry to help people in Hardeman County.
As Coleman started serving in the youth department in her church, she began to notice that many of the children were struggling in reading, comprehension and basic education, and during a dinner with Mays and friend, Michelle Bolden, who had her own ministry, Banishing Hunger, Mays and Coleman realized they had the same ministry in mind all along, but ignored the calling for several years. They began talking late that night, and the Restoration Center was born.
“My heart loves not only Bolivar, but all of Hardeman County, it’s where I grew up. I know everyone doesn’t love it here but I love my community. My heart breaks every time I see us lose one of our children to drugs and violence; and I feel it is happening more an more often. It makes me feel helpless and angry. I knew I had to do something. I began releasing myself from numerous obligations so I could pray and research by visiting other churches in our community to see what God was up to and what part I would play in this plan of his.” Mays said. “When Tina and I met that fateful night to talk to Michelle it was all I could do to jump up and say, That’s it! I’m doing it. We immediately started meeting and praying. I had all those ideas just built up inside of me which became ‘my binder’. It’s huge! Here is where it all started to come to life for me. Looking back even now I see how God has answered all of our prayers. We know he will continue because this is truly his heart and love for our community. "It took a lot of hard work, said Mays. The day we got our business license and 501(c)3 status in the mail it all became worth every sleepless night. I now see hope for our community."
One of the first things Mays and Coleman did was to recruit Stacy Seaton, not only because she was a CPA, but because she also had a passion and heart for the community. Over the course of the next year and a half the ladies brainstormed ideas for the new ministry, and put together a team of individuals to help them accomplish their goals.
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