Anchored in Hope

Tallulah – What do you get when you take 40 students, 12 tutors and one retired educator with a desire to help children?

Mathematically, you could say the answer is 53.

However, if you are a resident of Graham County, the real answer is a new tutoring center.

When Vicki Walsh agreed to tutor several students over the summer last year, she found it could be both a hobby and a chance to give back to the community. Walsh turned her living room into a classroom and began collecting materials for her students. By fall, she found herself with a heavy load of kids asking for extra instructional time. The calls for help kept coming and she could not turn students away.

She was becoming overwhelmed – so, she prayed and asked the Lord for direction.

He always provides

In perfect timing, other community members reached out and offered their help.

Parents, grandparents, local business owners and families began to donate to the cause. Her living room became a storage room for chapter books, pencils, paper, instructional materials and games. Even snacks began to pile up.

She and the other volunteers gathered at her home and poured their time and efforts into the minds of students. The effort was quickly becoming a balancing act to provide each child and tutor with the space they needed to work on their goals. So once again, Walsh prayed and asked the Lord for direction.

Right on time, her prayer was answered when her church, Blessed Hope, volunteered use of their building for the tutoring project. Walsh realized her hobby was turning into a calling.

After much prayer, she chose the name, “Anchored in Hope” for the learning center.

“When a person is your anchor, someone or something that gives support when needed: does that not speak to all those folks up there sharing the time and love for these kids as well as this community that has been so supportive?,” Walsh explained.

She continued to share the Bible verse Galatians 6:11, “And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end.”

The anchors of support for children and parents who desire extra support in their learning – and the hope that these anchors are showing these children – inspired the name. That was the beginning of the Anchored in Hope Learning Center.

Community effort

Anchored in Hope is located on Mill Creek in the Tallulah area of Graham County.

Students are served for one hour per week. The student is assigned a tutor based on similar interests or personalities, and the student is with that same tutor each week. Materials are individualized to meet the needs of each student.

The goal of the tutoring center is to help students develop self-confidence and realize they are capable of learning. The volunteers agree that once a person develops a sense of confidence in themselves, it gives them an extra boost to try harder and to be more successful.

Since the opening of the center, it has been completely self-sufficient and operates solely on donations. The services are free and offered to any child who has a desire to come.

“Some students aren’t coming for remediation but to stay where they are or to excel in their studies,” said Walsh.

There is no school affiliation and the center serves students from other counties as well. The program is open to K-12 students.

Parents and grandparents are welcome to join the session and observe, so they can continue the learning at home, or they may offer their services to another child while their child is being tutored.

“If we can do just a little bit in helping children be successful and anchored in life what a great thing that would be,” Walsh concluded.