THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996               TAG: 9603200168
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN              PAGE: 04   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: SUFFOLK                            LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines

SAFE HOME FOR KIDS TRYING TO GET ESTABLISHED

At the simple, two-story house on Godwin Boulevard, there is a living room where the children can play, five bedrooms where they can sleep.

It's a place that aims to shield children from being hit, sexually abused or neglected. It's called Grace Home for Children, but organizers are having a hard time opening its doors.

Carrie Davis, a nurse at Obici Hospital, has been trying for two years. She's appealed to City Council. She's asked for private donations. But she's nowhere near the $50,000 it will take to pay staffers and make renovations needed to make the project work.

Now Davis and others connected to the Home have started fundraising Bingo games every Tuesday at The Showcase at 2850 Airline Blvd. in Portsmouth. There are jackpots of $500 to $1,000, and all proceeds go to the Home. Games start at 7 p.m. So far, they've raised about $200 from the games.

Davis said the home is needed. But she's frustrated that children aren't the focal point of the local political agenda.

``Children are not valued. Politicians don't get any leverage from children because children don't vote,'' said Davis.

There is no emergency shelter for abused and neglected kids here or anywhere in Hampton Roads. Virginia Beach has the only formal emergency shelter, and it serves teenage boys and girls according to the Virginia Department of Social Services in Richmond. There were about 120 kids in foster care in Suffolk last year, said social service staffers.

If Davis could raise the money, her shelter would work as a clearinghouse to match abused children to foster parents. Her shelter would house 8 kids aged 4-17 for up to 60 days until the Department of Social Services could find adequate homes. MEMO: HOW TO HELP

The Grace Home for Children, a five-bedroom house on Godwin Boulevard

in Suffolk, will serve abused or neglected children.

Send donations to:

Grace Home for Children

P.O. Box 3137

Suffolk, Va. 23439

For more information, call 255-2425.

ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II

When Grace Home for Children opens, it will serve neglected and

abused children.

by CNB