IJ.b), PF.OPI.I'. ENDING THE CYCLE By Erin Raimondi During summer 2016, senior MadelineJones interned for Restore Hope, a Searcy nonprofiL collective impact project to lower foster care rccidi,;sm, the reoccurring cycle of the foster care system, in Arkansas. The goal was to get people from all different parts of the community to be involved in solving this problem. Restor Hope hired seven Harding students to be interns for eight weeks. Two of the interns worked on social media, and the other intern, were given an objective related to researching fost·er care recidi,ism. They attended meetings with different legi lators, judges and faith-ba ed communities around \\'hite County and Arkansas to find out what they were doing r garding the recidivism. '·I have a passion for stories," Jones said. ·'I have a passion to hear people's torics, and I have a pas. ion for opportunity made for God to make good out of bad, because he has done that in my life and the [lives of the j people I love.'' According toJones, foster care recidi,ism was something she saw beyond just the gates of Harding. "It is vrry tangible, and as soon as [I spent] one minute listening to statistics, it was impossible for me not to get involved,"Jones said. The overall goal was for communities to become healthier through imprO\ing recidivism by looking at different opportunities. Senior Sarah Littleton, a social work major, also interned alongside Jones in ummer 2016. She researched prison alternatives by looking into different programs around the county. Litdeton continued to stay involved as Restore Hope's only tudent employee. ((What I learned [is] that everybody has a story and everybody deserves mercy and justice.)) - senior Madeline Jones "I learned that work environment is huge and coworkers are huge," Littleton said. "If I hadn't loved my coworker so much it would have been completely different, and they made living in Searcy in the summer super fun." Director of d1e Mitchell Center, Dr. Andrew Baker, got involved with Restore Hope because he was a chairman of the board for Searcy Children's Home. He served as White County's consultant for Restore Hope with Dr. Heath Carpenter, assistant professor of English. Arkansas was the o. l Late in pri on recidi,ism. For every two people that got relea ed from jail, one would go back, according to Baker. "The more Harding students can study and look at and propose, our community becomes a better place," Baker said. "Healthy communities make a healthy state." The interns' research was compiled and put online, allowing anyone access to view their findings. "What I learned [is] that everybody has a story and everybody deserves mercy and justice," Jones said. Senior Madeline Jones has a passion for the problem of fos ter care recidivism and spent the summer researching solutions to the problem al Restore Hope, a no11-profit collerlive impact project in Sear1y, Arkansas, focused on improving foster care recidivism. Her passion grew ajter discoi•ering that Arkansas was one of the worslra11ked slates in foster care reridi1•is111 in the nation. \ Photo kl' Julia Rei11bold!
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