In Springfield, Missouri, the Good Samaritan Boys Ranch is working on new transitional housing. They are working to provide these homes for former foster children. The goal is to help these young men and women become successful adults.
The Good Samaritan Boys Ranch is a nonprofit organization. They are working to build apartments for the teenagers who are aging out of foster care. The apartments will be built on Norton Road in north Springfield. These apartments will provide opportunity for those who desperately need it.
What They Do For Foster Youth
While also having a treatment program at the ranch, the Good Samaritan Boys Ranch also provides a group home located on Norton Road and another in Willard for girls. These homes are part of the Footsteps program they run. The program focuses on helping foster kids and former foster kids develop the skills they’ll need for successful adulthood.
Without a support system, many foster kids who age out of the system will become homeless. Many of them will end up in jail. The statistics regarding aged out foster youth are depressing, but the Good Samaritan Boys Ranch is fighting back.
Right now, this nonprofit organization rents between 15 and 20 apartments all throughout their community so they can help kids like Toney and Courtney begin their adulthood on the right path. Their transitional living program teaches about the future, such as how to schedule doctors’ appointments, how to handle job interviews, how to behave in a professional atmosphere, and how to develop a good work ethic.
The eight newly built transitional apartments are going to provide even more of a chance for these youths. If they are not ready for being on their own completely, the apartments offer an in-between. Staff members will have offices in the building so they can offer guidance. The group home is located next door to offer the same kind of support.
What They Have to Say
Casey Wray, the Vice President of Operations for the Good Samaritan Boys Ranch had this to say: “They possess all sorts of strengths, they possess all sorts of resilience, and now we get to translate that into learning what it’s like to be an adult. I know I didn’t do it well when I first started, and so we all need kind of those examples. So, the apartment here will help us be able to kind of bridge that gap and help them learn some of those skills.”
By using the newly created office space, the Good Samaritan Boys Ranch is hoping to provide even more help for struggling teenagers as well as their families that reside in Springfield. They are running fundraisers and making use of tax credits to help with this project, which is estimated to cost around $1.6million. They are hoping to complete it by the end of this year.
Check out their website, Ranchlife.org, to see more of the kinds of opportunities they provide. There’s everything from recreation to schooling to therapy to independence.
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