Couple helps to raise more than 250 kids at Florida’s Residing Hope

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - Our FOX 35 Care Force is recognizing a special couple making a difference in the lives of hundreds of kids navigating through the foster care system.

FOX35’s Amanda McKenzie spent time with Mike and Maritza Velez and their teen girls in their care at their Residing Hope cottage in Volusia County.

The Velez’s have called that cottage home for more than 22 years.

They said they were led by their faith to be teaching parents. So far, they have helped raise more than 250 kids.

"Just like you would at a normal house," Maritza Velez said. "We all get up in our PJs, including myself. Cartoons are playing. Everybody is in the kitchen helping out. One is making bacon, somebody is making pancakes, eggs and we have a big breakfast. Then, after breakfast, we do cleaning. So I have music going, they have music going, it’s kind of a very loud, happy environment. After cleanup, everybody takes showers, they get dressed, they get cutesy up, and we do community events. Whatever is out there that’s free we do because this is a big family."

In 2002, Martiza and her husband Mike were youth ministers looking for a change, when they happened to drive by the gate of a children’s home. Curious about the mission, they thought they might become volunteers.

"After being here for a month, we totally fell in love with the mission, the kids, and the support from the staff," Maritza Velez said.

Hired for what was supposed to be a temporary position, has become their home and life’s work for more than 22 years.

"I sometimes can’t believe that we’ve been here so long," Mike Velez said. "We have seen the Lord work on these girls and the boys that we work with through the years. It’s a process. It takes awhile. A lot of them come with that broken heart or that hard shell."

Nevaeh Troope, 14, has lived at Residing Hope for more than a year now.

"When I arrived, I was a nice kid, I just had some issues," Troope said. "I have a tendency of pushing people away when I’m going through a hard time."

Troope said she has lived in more than 20 foster homes since she was four years old.

"My family sent me here and then eventually they gave me up," she said. "A lot of people don’t really want a teenager."

"We want her!" shouted Maritza Velez across the room. "We love you!"

"Thank you, Mama," Troope said.

Troope is one of half a dozen teen girls living in the cottage with Mike and Maritza right now. The girls and the other kids living in cottages at Residing Hope receive weekly therapy and tutoring.

"I have to brag – all of my girls are on honor roll," Maritza Velez said.

The average girl lives there for 18 months, but some can live there much longer or until they turn 18.

"We’re basically a safe holding place for the girls," Maritza Velez said. "We teach them life skills. We mock what a family is like. What a healthy living family would be like."

"They’re like my parents to me," Troope said. "They treat me like I’m their daughter."

"We’ve seen God move here," Maritza Velez said. "We’ve seen lives transformed. Their past does not define them. They define their future. They don’t have to be where they came from."

"That’s the best part of this job when you see their growth," Mike Velez said.

"It’s been 22 years that we’ve been here, and we keep saying just a little bit longer or until the Lord says, ‘that’s it – you’re ready to move on,’" Maritza Velez said.

Residing Hope, formerly known as the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home has been around for more than 116 years. For more information, you can visit here.