Columbia/Hellam/Wrightsville townlively.com
JANUARY 10, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXIV • NO 45
Providing some rest and respite BY CATHY MOLITORIS
P
eaceful sleep is something many of us take for granted, but for the family of Hayden Rettew, sleep is a struggle. Hayden, an 8-year-old second-grader at Lafayette Elementary School in Lancaster city, was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome when he was 8 months old. The rare form of epilepsy causes frequent seizures and developmental delays. “Hayden struggles with sleep difficulties and elopement,” noted his mom, Erika Rettew, referring to her son’s tendency to get up and leave his bed.
BY JEFF FALK
especially children.” Initially, Meshey and Oster asked the foundation to cover some of the expense, emphasizing that the Rettew family could help with the cost, but to their surprise, the foundation
It’s about the organization. It’s about the mission. It’s about the people. It’s not about bricks and mortar. But a building provides the structure that can bring everything together. Hope Inspire Love has a new home. It’s a space that the local human-trafficking opposer can call its own. “This is for us to provide more services,” said Amy Thurston, Hope Inspire Love’s president and CEO. “We want to grow our programs. This is just how we’ve evolved in the community. Now our name is on the side of a building. People will walk by and say, ‘What’s Hope Inspire Love about?’ Having a brick-and-mortar building will cause people to want to get involved, to get behind it. This is the launch pad to make it happen.” On Dec. 13, 2023, Hope Inspire Love hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at its new digs at 1380 Harrisburg Pike, Lancaster. The event was attended by about 100 community members, clergy, volunteers, board members and individuals whose lives have been directly or indirectly affected by human trafficking. “The atmosphere was wonderful, because it was beautiful people coming together to support one cause,” said Thurston. “There was a certain energy there. We’re not a home. We’re a place where people can come and get services. It was really
See Cubby Bed pg 2
See Hope pg 2
Hayden Rettew
consider the bed a necessity.” Erika and her husband, Ryan, had held a variety of fundraisers in an effort to raise the more than $13,000 needed to purchase the bed. “John and I asked each other,
‘Do you think we could write a grant to the Nor theast Pennsylvania Lions Ser vice Foundation, and they would consider funding some of it?’” Oster recalled. “They’re willing to help anybody who’s in need,
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“Al l t h at h e g o e s through he continues to show his strength and just how resilient he is.” Thanks to the Columbia Lions Club, Hayden’s nights should soon become a bit more restful. The club members wrote a grant to the Northeast Pennsylvania Lions Service Foundation to purchase a Cubby Bed for Hayden. The bed is specially designed with padded walls and securable doors, sensory features and remote monitoring. “ The Cubby Bed will allow Hayden to sleep independently and safely,” Erika shared. One of the Lions, John Meshey, is good friends with Hayden’s grandfather and had seen Erika’s post on Facebook about needing the bed. “She was fundraising for it, because insurance had denied their request for help,” explained Lion Kyle Oster. “They didn’t
Hope Inspire Love now has headquarters to fight human trafficking