NATCHEZ — One hundred twenty two children are better off this year, all because of one local agency.

Since the beginning of 2009, The Sunshine Shelter has helped that many abused or neglected children, and the organization’s executive director, Matilda Stephens, said that number will only go up.

The Sunshine Shelter provides temporary housing along with psychological, medical and dental services for children who have been removed from abusive situations. Stephens said the Sunshine Shelter is the first stop for children, from birth to 18-years-old.

“If kids who are abused and neglected go into triage situation, we would be like the emergency room,” Stephens said. “Our primary goal is to stabilize their environment and them personally.”

To do that, Stephens said children receive counseling and under go screenings that help the Department of Human Services when placing children in more permanent living situations. Children can only stay at Sunshine Shelter for 45 days.

In that time, Stephens said children experience a range of emotions, and the staff at Sunshine Shelter is available to assist them in making sense of their feelings.

“We basically stop the bleeding, so to speak,” Stephens said. “When they come to us, they have a lot of rage, a lot of anger. Sometimes there are physical symptoms where they turn their anger and hurt inward.”

Stephens said the job is the most challenging she’s ever had, but she said it also pays off in a big way.

“It is the most challenging for one reason and one reason only and that is the children,” she said. “It is difficult sometimes to put aside my personal feelings about the person who hurt these children. Sometimes you get wrapped up in the anger and that can be ineffective in healing the children.

“What I do, and my great staff does, is put all the focus on the children.”

The Sunshine Shelter is operated under the non-profit umbrella of Fertile Ground, Inc. That agency also operates Kyle’s House, a day care center specializing in care for special needs children.

“Kyle’s House offers so much more than just child care,” Stephens said. “It is provides support services for the families of children with special needs.”

Kyle’s House has been operational for just over a year and Stephens said the center has been able to grow more than she expected because of the communities support.

Stephens said there are a variety of ways the community can continue to support the work at both Sunshine Shelter and Kyle’s House. She said monetary donations are always needed to cover operational expenses, but other donations are needed as well.

Stephens said every child that leaves Sunshine Shelter does so with their clothes in a suitcase. She began that project after seeing one too many children come to the shelter with their clothes in a garbage bag.

“It just broke my heart that after all these children had endured that they had to have their belongings in a garbage bag,” Stephens said. “As long as I am there, they will never leave with their clothes in a garbage bag.

Gently used or new suitcases or duffle bags can be dropped off or mailed to 409 N. Union St. in Natchez.

Stephens said the organizations are also always in need of paper products like paper towels and toilet paper. Currently, Stephens said the shelter is looking for a new or used video game system like a Playstation or Xbox 360 and computers for the computer lab. Stephens said before donating a computer, the owner should take time to remove files from the hard drive.

Since the children staying at the shelter must be enrolled in school, public school uniforms and school supplies are needed.

At Christmas, Stephens said there are normally many donations for the young children, but not as much for the teenage residents, so blank CDs and inexpensive MP3 players are needed.

Stephens said at Christmas, the organization also tries to provide Christmas gifts for foster children in the area. Stephens has a list of children that need that assistance. Anyone wishing to help with that project should contact Stephens by phone at 601-445-2223 or by e-mail at matilda@sunshineshelter.org.

One of the most important services offered by Sunshine Shelter is normal activities for the children. Stephens said providing bowling or movies outings or a meal at a fast food restaurant are things that go a long way in normalizing life for the children at the shelter.

Coupons or gift cards for such outings are helpful in facilitating those events, Stephens said.

Stephens said the job she and the staff do is emotionally taxing, but the success stories make it worthwhile.

Stephens said she remembers a girl who came to the shelter after Hurricane Katrina and was placed in foster care after her 45 day stay at Sunshine. Stephens said a few years passed without hearing from the girl, but she never forgot her.

“I was teaching a class out at Co-Lin and was calling role,” Stephens said. “Her name was on it, and I thought ‘that’s strange because that name is exactly like hers.’

“When I looked up it was her and she told me were the first people that ever looked at her for her potential and not her faults.”

That former resident is in her final year as a social work major at the University of Southern Mississippi.

“(The staff at the Sunshine Shelter) all come back to those types of stories, when the situations get hard,” Stephens said.