Charles Harbin was tutoring children in transition at The Drake House last summer before he was killed. He described his experience there with the students as moving and enriching… he talked very positively about the kids and the program.
If you’re not already familiar, The Drake House in Roswell provides short term crisis housing, assessment and support to homeless mothers and their children. A few of the many services they provide include career and financial counseling, tutoring for the children, daycare to assist with finding employment, health services and mentorship. It was established to keep the family intact, and provide them with the resources to return to self-sufficient housing.
I ended up at Drake House pretty unexpectedly this week as part of a community program I’m involved with. It was jarring to be in this space where my brother taught and had talked so much about – and it was heartening to hear Programs Director, Christy Merritt, talk about the life changing work they are doing by teaching, supporting, encouraging and strengthening these families.
Visit Drake House to find out how you can help with clothes, food, toiletries, car seats, gift cards for food, financial needs, website tech, or volunteer to teach an enrichment class… and, think of Charles when you make your donation. ♥
Charles Harbin III Memorial Foundation 
Charles spoke of his experience with Drake House students and staff as enriching and he planned to continue assisting students over rough spots with their education. It was a great adjunct to Roswell High. Charles had been with Drake House a short time, but had found his managers gave him freedom to do what he thought best as an experienced educator to assist students.
Thank you for this complimentary description of Charles’ experience tutoring high school students at The Drake House, during the summer that his valuable life was cut short. He is a huge loss to our community, and especially to the student’s whom he touched both at RHS and at The Drake House. We were thrilled to have a RHS teacher who was also male as our students benefit greatly from positive male role models. Charles was all that and more. The students that he worked with each week looked forward to not only brushing up on their math or language skills with him, but especially enjoyed talking about music and things that were relevant to them. Charles had an immediate connection with the students and that invaluable teacher skill that made learning fun. We too miss him.
Christy