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vLIVING continued from page 14
month of April, they will have a radio ad and some other activities
to bring awareness to National Child Abuse Prevention Month. She
explained that the Yankton Mayor will also be doing a proclamation on
March 31.
They distribute educational and promotional material to other
agencies that may need their services and they support the “Wear Blue”
Campaign, where the community is asked to wear blue in support of
child abuse awareness. Haselhorst states that they are planning to take
part in the event again this year, planned for Wednesday, April 4th.
Last year, she explains, they called different agencies and businesses
around Yankton to advise them about the wear blue day. Those
wearing blue could send in pictures of their participation and RCFC
posted the pictures to their Facebook page.
In October, during Domestic Violence Awareness Month,
Haselhorst leads educational sessions to local fifth graders about the
message “Love Doesn’t Hurt.” In 2017, she visited 19 classrooms for a
total of 450 kids. Part of this program includes the children taking part
in a drawing contest, illustrating their thoughts about what a happy
and healthy family looks like.
One winner of the drawing contest was selected from each of the
schools visited and each winner received a gift card. They recently
added a grand prize to the contest, with the winner having their
picture displayed on a billboard. Addison from Beadle Elementary
was the first recipient of this grand prize and will have her illustration
displayed on a billboard on Highway 81 North of Yankton during the
month of April.
Haselhorst explains enthusiastically that they are always looking
for opportunities to speak and they love providing presentations for
various groups. Because many people don’t know about these services
available, they want to increase their presence, so the community
knows it’s available.
As she took me on a tour of their facility, it is well-thought out,
safe and very accommodating to those they serve. The agency has
seen continuous growth every year. In 2017, they had 560 safe visits
spanning 959 hours and 492 safe exchanges. Their variety of services
provided by the program last year totaled 1,254 hours, serving 129
adults and 95 children.
What surprises Haselhorst the most is the number of hours of
exchanges and visit time and how many families are being helped by
this. They develop relationships with the families, working with some
of them for many hours. She recalls a case where they worked with a
family for an extended period, resulting in the positive outcome of the
child and mother were reuniting as a family again. This was good for
the family and good for the community.
“I think the coolest thing to see is to make a relationship with a
family and a child that comes for an extended period of time and
actually see that child meet developmental milestones in the building.”
She’s witnessed young children learn to crawl or stand for the first time
and enjoys watching their speech and language develop.
You don’t have to be a resident of Yankton to take advantage of their
services. The only day they are closed is Saturdays, and they are open
most evenings. Haselhorst encourages those interested to call them
at (605) 665-1204 and they will help provide guidance about what
services might be beneficial. Watch for their awareness campaigns,
check them out on Facebook, don’t be afraid to call them with
questions.
vBy Julie Eickhoff
Childhood toys that Richard and his
brothers played with, many of the
items still in fair condition. Out of
the corner of my eye I spot a very old
football sitting on top of a stand and
ask Richard about this. “Dad and I and
the brothers would throw that around
outside in the yard, that was fun times,”
he says. We make our way down the
stairs to the second floor, then down
the main stairwell to the main floor.
Our last stop is the basement. The
original dirt floor is now covered with
tiles. Richard shows me what would
have been the fruit room. “Grandma
had a large garden out back and peach,
pear, and apple trees. She would can
everything and it was all brought down
here and stored away.” He also states
that whenever there was a tornado,
this is where they came to wait it out.
The next room over was the old coal
room. In there stands the old fuel tank
and old wheel keg barrels. I asked him
what these were used for and he stated
that was how the nails arrived to the
lumberyard, now they come in boxes.
Back when coal was used to heat the
homes, Richard recalls
that the coal would
arrive on trains. He
and his brothers,
along with their dad,
would take the horse
drawn wagons and
fill them and then
haul them back to the
lumberyard where
they had 20 buildings to fill with several types of coal. They sold this to
the town’s residence back in those days. He tells me they would shovel
coal to the coal machine to heat the home and part of his chores was to
remove the ashes from the chimney. “Grandma would give me such a
hard time cause I would come upstairs and my shoes would track ashes
all over the floors!” The last thing Richard shows me is the original
kitchen sink, now standing in the main room of the basement. Thirty
some years ago he had some local men carry it downstairs and hook it
up. They asked Richard if he knew there was a very large hole on the
bottom side. Showing Richard, he reached up into it and pulled out a
sack, dumping out the contents to reveal gold and silver coins that his
grandparents had stashed for good keeping. “Wow you could imagine
my surprise,” he states.
After we have made our way back to the main level, I ask Richard
why he has kept so much of all the original furniture and belongings
going back generations. “There is a lot of history in this home. I never
had the heart to part with any of it. Every item has a story and I’ve
enjoyed it a lot and I’ve had a lot of fun here!”
vBy Angella Byykkonen
More Photos Online At... hervoiceonline.com
HERVOICEvMARCH/APRIL 2018v27