STUART, Fla. — A well-known charity that houses foster kids and families at risk of abuse is expanding to the Treasure Coast.
Place of Hope currently has foster homes in Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens.
Now, it's opening an 11-acre campus off of Cove Road in Stuart.
The charity is taking over the land from the Samaritan Center for Boys, a charity with a similar mission that has since fallen into despair.
Place of Hope Founding CEO Charles Bender said each day 200 kids in this region are housed in foster care.
He said the new outreach center on the campus will help benefit as many as 5,000 to 10,000 families with items like diapers, cribs, and pack and plays.
"There's more to come and we're going to see as the needs present themselves, there is additional space here that hasn't been used yet, and like I said, there is a tremendous need, so we'll see where we go with it," said Bender.
Bender said the outreach center will open within a matter of weeks.
He said the other cottages used to house children and families will begin being renovated and reopened shortly after.
"Can you imagine overnight, taking on two to three additional kids into your family, and sometimes you need some financial support with that," said Bender. "You need the diapers, the car seats, the cribs, the pack and plays, all those things, and so as a community we're going to provide those things to them almost immediately."
Bender said the pandemic coupled with recently inflation spikes have led to an increase in foster cases.
