vFAMILIES continued from page 26 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