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This week on the Chamber Connect Podcast, presented by ITEnabled, Tara and Blake are joined by Paige Pate and Robin Castillo with Seasons of Hope Center. Each week Tara Watson-Watkins, CEO of the Lufkin Angelina County Chamber of Commerce and Blake Pollino CEO of BP Media Group sit down with local leaders, small business owners, and people of interest to share education and inspiring stories from right here in our community. Thanks so much for listening! Make sure you rate and review the podcast wherever you’re listening. Subscribe on YouTube: bit.ly/3PqmQPp Like us on Facebook: bit.ly/33ubk2i Follow us on Instagram: bit.ly/3rV9C3j Learn more about the Chamber: bit.ly/3ByV9gD

LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) – The Seasons of Hope Center is hosting their 2023 fundraiser, a pumpkin patch in Lufkin. The public can come out to get their pumpkins and mums, along with celebrating fall with games, rides and more to benefit the center’s programs. Monday through Friday, schools and childcare centers can attend by appointment only. The pumpkin patches open to the public Saturdays and Sundays. Seasons of Hope Center Board President Pam Hudson explains why the pumpkin patch was started. Copyright 2023 KTRE. All rights reserved.    

By Stefante Randall Updated: Oct. 28, 2019 at 11:15 PM CDT https://www.ktre.com/2019/10/28/seasons-hope-hosts-specials-needs-day-pumpkin-patch/ LUFKIN, Texas (KTRE) – Seasons of Hope Center in East Texas hosted their annual pumpkin patch event and invited families with kids with special needs to come out and enjoy the activities. For the past two years, Ashley Hankins has attended Seasons of Hope’s pumpkin patch with her family. “He loves the jumpy house, we like to get good pictures for fall and it’s such friendly personnel helping out here helping other volunteers,” said Hankins. This year, Seasons of Hope partnered with Texas Children’s Hospital to host a Special Needs Day Pumpkin Patch to support families. “They just wanted the opportunity to partner with us to give these kids a day to come out and enjoy being kids. There’s lots of things that they can do out here because we have a barrel train, we have hayrides that the whole entire family can go on and lots of games that are more age-appropriate and they can just enjoy it,” said Executive Director of Season of Hope, Paige Pate. Most importantly, Hankins said she is happy to see that kids with special needs had the opportunity to participate in the festivities. “Inclusion is so important, every kid, every person needs to have a place and feel like they do and it’s great to see people like yourself at events,” said Hankins. All of the proceeds raised from the pumpkin patch events help provide services to women with controlling issues such as abuse and addictions. Copyright 2019 KTRE. All rights reserved.

Described as a nonprofit wellness and restoration facility for women, Seasons of Hope Center brings women from all backgrounds to a place of healing. Located on 34 beautiful acres in Hudson, SOHC is a private retreat for women with “life controlling issues such as drugs and alcohol, emotional trauma or sexual, physical or verbal abuses,” according to the center’s website. Founded in 2006, the first resident arrived in 2009. “The women come from different backgrounds and different avenues to get here,” said SOHC executive director Paige Pate. “We want to show them love. We want them to know that we care about them.” When entering the program, the women commit to a year of living solely at SOHC. They must be 30 days sober, and they don’t have access to a personal vehicle or cellphone. Only seven women, plus program coordinator Susie Wilkinson, live in the house at a time. “We wanted it to be a place of refuge, and as you can tell, it’s very quiet and very peaceful out here,” Pate said, gesturing around the property. “A lot of these women probably have abuse in their background of some kind, and they’ve just generally had a difficult life. We use this as a place to come and take a load off. We want them to learn to have structure to their day and structure to their life. In that, we have something scheduled most 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. They’re busy.” Inside their three-bedroom, house, the women are assigned daily household chores. They also maintain the extensive property, which includes stables, a barn, the dorm, a house with classrooms, a manager’s office, a large garden, a greenhouse and chicken coop. Working toward becoming more self-sufficient, the women harvest their own produce and gather eggs from their chickens. They also take part in equine therapy. Photo by Leslie Nemec “The women who come out here all have something — depression, anxiety,” Wilkinson said. “We bring them out here to the horses, and the horses mirror your attitude and how you act. So they connect with one of the horses. They learn to trust, build relationships, and it releases that depression and anxiety. They use the horses to love on, and the horses love them back.”   Throughout the year, SOHC provides GED and computer classes, Bible studies, opportunities to learn new skills and to volunteer, a community of people to surround themselves with, life coaching, and a Christ-centered atmosphere that offers balance and stability. SOHC’s Phase 2 is a transitional living program where participants spend a second year training for job skills and learning money management. They can then seek employment and transportation with the “goal of independent living.” After 20 years as a stay-at-home mom, Pate began working at a nonprofit organization in the Dallas area. After moving to Lufkin, she joined the SOHC board and accepted the role as executive director this past February. “I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve become stronger. I’m more

https://www.ktre.com/story/30618156/lufkin-vendor-mall-helps-raise-money-for-seasons-of-hope-wellness-center/ LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) – The Seasons of Hope center is a wellness facility for women in recovery from drugs, alcohol or other life controlling issues. It’s a program that’s near and dear to Tonya Malnar’s heart, so when she opened her vendor mall, All Things All Seasons, she wanted to find a way to benefit Seasons of Hope as well. “We spoke with an attorney and found out the best way to do I,” said Malnar.  “With us being a vendor mall, people pay for their booth space in here, but Seasons of Hope does not have to that.” Seasons of Hope has two booths where they sell items they purchase as well as donations from people and businesses in the community. Better yet, a majority of the items are brand new and never used. “Their donations have increased since we opened and that and it has helped them quite a bit,” said Malnar. “This booth means a lot to Seasons of Hope because it’s a non-profit and everything we sell in our booth is one hundred percent profit,” said Seasons of Hope graduate and employee Summer Broadway. Broadway, a former addict, said the money raised by the booth is helping change lives for the better. “It helps pay the bills, helps do things for the girls and take them out and to do things that teach them how to live a sober life,” Broadway said.  “Once you’ve been in that lifestyle for a while, you forget how to live.” Malnar said the community has been so supportive of this venture, which brought so much joy to her heart. “It is awesome,” Malnar said. “Just our donation jar that we have at the front, they say it pays their water bill every month.” The Seasons of Hope booth is extending their Black Friday sale through Saturday. All items are thirty percent. Copyright 2015 KTRE. All rights reserved.