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Claude
I. Howard Cottage to House Teen Mothers,
Infants &
Siblings
County
officials recently opened the newly renovated cottage at
Child Haven, which will allow the Department of Family
Services to keep sibling groups together and house teen
mothers with their infants. Currently, siblings
are separated by age and gender.
The
Claude I. Howard Cottage renovations were funded by
private and non-profit sector contributions totaling
$569,550, raised by the “Mended Hearts” team through
the “Community 911” project of the Focus Property
Group.
 “This
is a great example where the private sector helped those
of us in government address an identified need,”
County Commission Chairman Rory Reid said. “The result
is much more than a refurbished cottage. The result is
that traumatized, distressed youth taken out of their
homes will be able to share this refuge with their
siblings rather than being separated. It means that teen
mothers under our care will be able to spend time and
bond with their infants. Before this cottage was
renovated and expanded, that wasn’t always
possible.”
Family
Services Director Tom Morton agreed: “The newly
renovated Howard Cottage allows us to keep sibling
groups together and further provide comfort for the
children while being temporarily housed at Child
Haven,” he said. “Additionally, we will be able to
improve our services to teen mothers by housing mothers
and infants together. This will provide young mothers
the opportunity to develop their parenting skills
under the guidance and supervision of full-time
staff.”
The
remodeled and expanded cottage boasts seven new bedrooms
(for a total of 11), three bathrooms and one office for
a total of 3,781 square feet and the capacity to house
30 kids. In addition to raising the funds need for
the renovation, Mended Hearts secured $101,500 in
in-kind contributions and has logged more than 2,000
volunteer hours to this organization.
 “Community
911” is a community outreach project of the Focus
Property Group and Landtek. Employees of both
organizations were split into four teams and charged
with selecting a local charity and developing a
philanthropic project for its charity. “Mended
Hearts” selected Child Haven and proceeded to raise
funds for a comprehensive renovation of the Howard
Cottage on the Child Haven campus.
The
team secured contributions from the Hager Marketing
Group ($150,000); Focus Property Group/Ritter Charitable
Trust ($160,000); The Children’s Service Guild
($121,750); and Station Casinos ($50,000), among several
other donors.
While
the newly renovated cottage provides a wonderful living
space for siblings during their stay at Child Haven, the
county continues to struggle with finding foster
families for siblings, especially for groups of three or
more. The Department of Family Services is
stepping up its foster family recruitment efforts with
the addition of new staff members who will do targeted
outreach to specific sectors of the community, including
business leaders, the faith-based community, educators
and medical services professionals.
For
those interested in become a foster parent, please call
455-018.
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