By Joan F. Simoneau, Community Reporter
Marlborough – More than 22,000 children and families in more than 20 states are receiving help with emotional and behavioral problems and are learning to live normal, happy lives through the Youth Villages nonprofit organization. In her quest to choose a program for Junior Women’s Clubs to support, Marlborough’s Diane McCurley, junior director of the General Federation of Woman’s Clubs (GFWC) of Massachusetts, chose Youth Villages.
“With the desire to assist kids who age out of foster care, I looked for an organization that helped with educational, vocational and residential issues,” McCurley said. “They do assist youths following foster care but they also do so much with hundreds of children and families to overcome emotional and behavioral issues with unique programs that so often result in successful outcomes.”
She learned about Youth Villages from her daughter, Elizabeth, who works with students in the Worcester area.
McCurley and other members of the Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club are interacting with staff and girls at the Germaine-Lawrence Residential Facility in Arlington, which temporarily houses and educates over 80 girls, ages 12-18, who are attempting to turn their lives in the right direction.
“As clubwomen, we are drawn to these girls and many clubs have already donated toiletry items, books, crafts and monetary donations to support them,” McCurley said.
Theresa Frias, recent past president of the Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club, and state chairperson for Advocates for Children, is leading the project locally.
After visiting the main office in Woburn and the Arlington campus, she observed: “Not only does Youth Villages deal with the complex issues that put a youth at risk, they are working with these teens to create successful adults by teaching them life and work skills.”
“GFWC is attempting to collect 2015 pounds of gently used clothing for the Style for Success event being held in March,” Frias noted.
At the event a stylist helps the young women select several appropriate outfits they can use for job interviews and in a work environment.
The Evidentiary Family Restoration approach, the treatment used by Youth Villages, involves intensive in-home treatment work with the child and family, with a focus on measuring outcomes, keeping children in the community whenever safely possible and providing accountability to families and funders.
“Until April 2016, Mass. clubs will continue to participate in many of the activities designed to assist Youth Villages and their clients – Back to School, Holiday Heroes and Style for Success,” McCurley noted.