Community Connection: The Rop Shop and OCI Lend a Hand to Family and Adoption Center Gateway Woods
WRITTEN BY: KATE HUFFMAN
On Thursday, November 19th, The ROP Shop and Outdoor Concepts got together for our annual clean-up day at Gateway Woods. With the challenge of keeping things safely socially distanced due to COVID, fewer associates were able to attend. Even so, we were able to provide some fall maintenance for the main campus of Gateway Woods, such as blowing leaves, cleaning gutters, and clearing away fallen trees. To help with some of the work, we brought along a couple of our Grasshopper zero-turn mowers, one with a leaf bagger attachment and one with a leaf blower attachment. They really made a difference since we were working with a smaller crew and made the work more manageable.
Gateway Woods is an organization located in Leo, Indiana. Their mission is to honor and obey God by providing help and healing to troubled children and families.
In 1976 the Apostolic Christian Children's Home opened with two locations and four staff. In 1989, they started offering other services outside of the children’s home and changed their name to Gateway Woods. Their Christ-centered social services now include adoption, foster care, Gateway Farms, LARC mentorship, residential, and school programs.
Saturday, November 21st was adoption day at Gateway Woods! Because older children and teens are generally avoided by potential adoptive parents, these kids tend to age out of the foster care system. But Gateway Woods specializes in placing kids of this age range in loving homes, helping them find hope for their futures.
We’re so thankful to have a program like this in our area which enriches our community, and it’s an honor to show them our appreciation.
If you’d like to learn more about Gateway Woods, please visit their website at https://gatewaywoods.org/
