BEAUMONT, Texas — The Buckner Village community added another special element to its home on Wednesday.
The Buckner Children’s Village, located in Beaumont's west end, expanded the Buckner Auxiliary Memorial Garden with a ‘path of hope’ walkway. The garden provides a place for children in care to relax or visit with case workers and family members.
“It’s that journey you take. Sometimes, from a places of where there were maybe some bad memories, some tragedy in your life, you can take a path and journey through hope into the light and into a better place,” said Executive Director of Buckner, Laura May.
More than 100 local donations were provided through sales of engraved bricks for a walkway of hope, and the Buckner Ladies Auxiliary.
The garden's completion was overseen by the Buckner Ladies Auxiliary and comes during a milestone anniversary of the nonprofit's service in Beaumont.
“The memorial garden started with the auxiliary 50 years ago,” May said. “Over the years, they saw some ideas of how they could change and make it more inviting for the kids. It’s always been a place where people can come and hang out and just spend time together.”
The walkway has a unique path created by bricks. Each engraved brick sold for $100 each. The “Pave the Path” fundraiser started in August 2015. After a total of 98 bricks were sold, Buckner began the to remodel the garden. The process took approximately two years to complete.
Additionally, the memorial garden's completion was aided by a $20,000 grant from the Buckner Ladies Auxiliary.
Now that the garden is ready for others, May says she can only imagine the impact the new space will have on the kids and families.
“I could just see the kids enjoying this time and playing in it. There’s so much time for families. There are places for the parents to sit and enjoy watching their kids and just play in it and enjoy time together, doing devotional time together,” May says.
The Buckner community utilizes the garden "a lot" May says.
"There are so many different ways that we can utilize [it]. If we’re doing a special occasion in celebration of maybe a birthday or a graduation, that this is such a nice place for us to be able to do that and have a celebration place," May says.
The garden also has other amenities such as a swing, BBQ pit, fairy garden, two playgrounds and more.
Ultimately, May says the village wanted to provide a space for children to enjoy their lives.
"It gives them time to just play and be kids and enjoy being a kid for a while," said May.
"Buckner Children's Village at Beaumont provides a stable home for children in foster care. Foster families live in homes on the campus, which provides a consistent living environment for children that have been abused, neglected or abandoned and are now in the state's custody."
"Buckner Southeast Texas is a faith-based nonprofit ministry dedicated to transforming the lives of vulnerable children, families and senior adults in Beaumont and the Golden Triangle area. Buckner Southeast Texas is an extension of Buckner International, which was founded in 1879 in Texas and today serves people in the United States and internationally through a variety of programs designed to protect children and build strong families."
