Assurance provides a safe home
Rich Jacques, Record Staff Writer
Roswell Daily Record

Assurance Home of Roswell regularly opens its doors to abused and neglected children. Sunday it opened its doors to the public.A steady stream of guests visited the tranquil plot of land in southeast Roswell to get a better understanding of what the home for troubled kids is all about.

In two hours, more than 100 people toured the placid surroundings of the 10-acre complex. Many agreed an immediate calming effect takes hold after walking through the front gate.“I think what I see when I first walk on the grounds is the peacefulness and that certainly must impress the kids because they are not in a peaceful time in their lives,” said Sue Molyneux of Roswell after her first visit to the home Sunday.

More than just a quiet place to relax, every facet of Assurance Home serves a specific individual function, that together, work to accomplish the overall mission of the program — to help young people reconstruct their lives in a loving and caring environment.

The tiny white chapel located at the center of the irenic, six-building site provides spiritual support for the teens in a time of great emotional distress.Art therapy programs administered in the library building help the kids to feel better about themselves by allowing self expression through art.Started about two years ago, the horsemanship program, located at the Assurance Home stables, works therapeutically to teach kids communication skills and behavioral lessons.

Ron Malone, executive director of Assurance Home explained that the children, once feral, can relate to the fact that the horses, once wild themselves, are now tame and understand what it is like to be handled roughly.The kids often have trouble getting the horses to do what they want them to do at first, explained Malone, but after learning the importance of patience and behavioral modification, the youths learn a valuable lesson.

“If they are not getting what they want maybe they should change their behavior,” said Malone.

The on-site ropes course, consisting of an obstacle circuit designed to instill confidence, generates positive thoughts about the future to all who complete it. About 11 to 14 children at any given time are housed at one of the two separate living areas. The children, who attend public schools, leave Assurance Home after completing high school graduation requirements.

A staff of 12, including professional trained therapists, assist children with difficulties 24-hours a day.“I feel privileged to be here,” said Amporo Sanchez, a child care worker at the home for about 10 years.

Sanchez said the best part about working at Assurance Home is working on a daily basis with the kids, some of which have never known the meaning of family.“What we take for normal isn’t normal for them,” she said.Sanchez described a young girl, who before coming to Assurance Home, had never decorated a Christmas tree. “After a friend took her home at Christmas she came back and began crying. She didn’t know families decorated Christmas trees. She thought that was just something they did on TV,” said Sanchez.

According to Malone, the home has helped nearly 1,000 oppressed and neglected children to break the vicious cycle of abuse.“It’s really about the kids,” he said, “our job is to take the kids and teach them to feel better about themselves, their lives and to become good parents.”

With a success rate at close to 90 percent, many kids from throughout New Mexico apply to enter the program which has room to house just 14 children at one time.Malone said by allowing only a small number of kids to live at Assurance Home they can maintain a family, homelike environment.The dream of Assurance Home is to eventually become totally self sufficient, Malone said.

Currently about one half of the funding needed to run the program comes from Medicaid with the remainder of the money coming from various grants, foundations, local community support and the United Way.Donations may be made directly to the home or to the Assurance Home Foundation.Malone, and many others feel the program at Assurance Home in Roswell is second to none.“For a program our size to have such success is tremendous,” said Malone who hopes Assurance Home will continue to flourish for a long time in Roswell.