Catholic Charities - St. Cloud Children's Home

The educational staff at the St. Cloud Children’s Home has been holding the Holiday Auction in December for 33 years. Students earn points during school for behavior and class participation. These points are totaled for three weeks before the Holiday Auction. Students use their points like dollars on the day of the event.

Local businesses, private individuals, and organizations donate both money and items for our students. The week of the event we have one of our staff play the Grinch. The Grinch and his dog Max (wearing antlers) walk around the grounds of the Children’s Home the weekend before to get the students excited. The students must melt the Grinch’s heart so he won’t cancel the Auction. During the week they sing songs to him during lunch, read a Grinchy Tale to each classroom, decorate the Grinch’s office, make buttons for staff to wear asking the Grinch to save the Auction. The final two days they bake cookies and make hearts of all shapes and sizes to try and soften his stone cold heart. On the morning of the Auction, the Grinch goes to each cottage telling them how their Holiday spirit has warmed his heart and whether or not he will allow the Auction to occur.

During the Auction the staff will hold up items and set a beginning bid. Students are able to purchase gifts for their families, friends and themselves. For many of our students, this is the highlight of their holiday season. The educational staff provides free gift wrapping for the students. Our auctioneers this year were Lon Enerson, Judy Feneis, Steve Bautch, and Bruce Mohs who is currently the chair of the District 742 school board. A great time was had by all!

From May 2006

Special Friends program celebrates 20 years

Approximately 80 individuals attended the Special Friends 20th Anniversary Celebration at the St. Cloud Children’s Home (SCCH) the afternoon of May 3.

Receiving special certificates of thanks from Sue Hanks, SCCH Clinical Manager and Emcee of the program, were John Krueger (Director of Residential and Day Services), John Doman (former Children’s Home Director), and Lana Faber, Special Friends Coordinator. Steve Schmid (Children’s Residential Program Manager), Kathryn Stolpman (former Residential Services Manager), Bob Hanks (former Cottage Therapist), Kevin Lanave (former Director of Faith Formation for Cathedral High School) and Rita Koll (current CHS Director of Faith Formation) were also recognized for their “outstanding help and support of the Special Friends program over the years,” according to Faber.

Faber also received a plaque from CHS “to our Special Friend Lana Faber for your 20 years of faithful partnership.”

“It has been a labor of love,” said Faber. “It takes lots of time and intensity, but I have passion for it (Special Friends program).”
Faber became involved in Special Friends when she came to the SCCH 20 years ago and then Director John Doman sent her to train with Father Ray Chase at the St. Vincent’s Center for Children in Baltimore.

“The Special Friends program has shaped over 800 of our students in the 20 years we’ve been partners,” noted Rita Koll. “Lana Faber’s commitment, knowledge base and faith have been key. As a former SCCH employee, I recall sending our students from the cottages to meet their special friends from CHS...Now, as a Cathedral administrator, I see (that) what most impacts our students is the common humanity they share with the SCCH students – the common needs, dreams and yearnings of all young people. This lesson has tremendous impact at both ends and our school is very grateful for the partnership.”

Faber noted that she has a belief in the “beauty of that connection” that the high school students and the youth in residence at the SCCH make as Special Friends. “I try to stay out of the way and let God do the work.”

The Special Friends is a Service Learning option for CHS students. High school juniors use their service hours to develop one-on-one relationships with youth in residence at the Home by meeting every Wednesday evening for two hours during the school year. According to Faber, 98% of the students repeat the experience in their Senior year even though Service Learning is not required.

From February 2006

Cottage Three

The St. Cloud Children's Home and the St. Cloud Hospital Recovery Plus Unit have expanded the collaborative service for adolescents with chemical dependency issues. An empty existing building on the Children's Home grounds was reopened to accommodate additional clients from the Recovery Plus program. Beginning June 1, 2005 Cottage Three Plus was opened to accommodate up to six additional adolescents in a coed environment with a total of ten beds available between Cottage Three and Cottage Three Plus. Both units follow the same rules, structure and behavior system and staff from both units work in either unit. The students in both units do activities, groups and special occasions together, and although they are in two separate buildings they are both considered to be one under the Short Term Services unit at SCCH.

The St. Cloud Children's Home has been providing shelter service to students enrolled in the Outpatient Recovery Plus Program at the St. Cloud Hospital since February 3, 2003. The collaboration has worked well for both agencies making the expansion a smart step. Both buildings have the students from this program join the SCCH programming from 4:15 p.m. until 8:15 a.m. This specialized programming fulfills a need for the outpatient program to offer a shelter environment for students whose homes are far away or require a structured and therapeutic environment through the course of outpatient treatment.

Referrals to this new service are made to the St. Cloud Hospital Recovery Plus Unit. For initial Chemical Dependency Assessment contact 320-251-2700 ext. 53357 and ask for Barb. For referrals to Primary Chemical Dependency Treatment after completion of Assessment, contact Steve Lanz at 320-251-2700 ext. 59021.

From March 2005

St. Cloud Children's Home Welcomes New Therapist

Carole Yozamp accepted the position of Therapist in Cottage Two (our secure/intensive co-ed unit for ages 12-18) on January 3, 2005. Carole comes to us with a Masters Degree in Criminal Justice with a Counseling Emphasis from St. Cloud State University. She has many years of experience working with the Minnesota Correctional Facility as a Caseworker, Corrections Counselor, Director of Staff Training and Lieutenant. Carole has also worked for the University of MN Extension Services as a Regional Extension Educator in Child-Youth Development. We are excited to welcome her to our staff.

From December 2004

Intensive Treatment Unit

The Intensive Treatment Unit last year added Connie Vukus, LMFT, to the program. Connie provides individual and family therapy. The addition of Connie to the team has had a large impact on the availability of services for residents and the overall treatment program. Since Connie's arrival, exit evaluations indicate an increase of positive scoring in the areas of therapist availability and effect therapy has upon treatment progress. Connie provided new opportunities in regard to co-therapy and additional consultation with the counselor team.

The Intensive Treatment Unit also welcomed Dr. Louella Simpao to the program during the last year. Dr. Simpao is employed by St. John's Prairie Psychiatric Hospital and contracts with Catholic Charities to provide services for the residents on a three-week rotation. Dr. Simpao also provides consultation for the treatment program and crisis situations.

The Intensive Treatment Unit continues to maintain a census balance close to or at full capacity. However, the movement of residents through the program can result in spontaneous openings. Therefore, referral agents may wish to apply for the waiting list when necessary, as census can change rapidly. The Intensive Treatment Unit is also currently running a ratio of 3:1 in regard to girls to boys. This trend has been in place for almost two years.

From October 2004

Youth Ministry Program

Inspired by Father Ray Chase, of St. Vincent's Center for Children in Baltimore, St Cloud Children's Home's Special Friends Program has been a successful collaboration with the St. Cloud Cathedral High School. Developed by Youth Ministry Coordinator, Lana Faber, Special Friends has touched hundreds of youth in its 18-year history.

Each Wednesday evening, for 24 weeks, students from St. Cloud Cathedral pair up with one youth from the St. Cloud Children's Home with the hope of building a relationship focusing on God's creation and the student's uniqueness in the world. Typically, there are approximately 80 applicants for the 40 available slots. As Juniors, Cathedral students are required to complete 80 hours of service learning. Although no additional hours are required as seniors, approximately 99% return for an additional year.

On "Pet Night" Cathedral students bring in their family pets to share with the youth from the Children's Home. Referring to the scripture verses from Genesis 1:20-25, "God said, 'Let the water team with an abundance of living creatures and on the earth, let birds fly beneath the dome of the sky,' and so, it happened.... and God saw it was good." Visitors to the Children's Home on pet nights have included, snakes, lizards, gerbils, lambs, and of course, the traditional cats and dogs.

"Game Night," "Charades," "Seed Night," "Star Night," "Favorite Music," and "Story Night" are also favorites, although most resident youth would agree with the following response to a written evaluation, "I liked EVERYTHING because they came to see us!"

The beauty of the program is that students from the community give themselves in friendship, unconditionally to others and often find that they themselves are changed forever after this experience. It can best be described by the words of one student reflecting back on the year: "I was totally intrigued with the whole idea of Special Friends. Although my friend was rambunctious, he was a blast. I hope in some way, I touched my friend like he touched me"

From July 2004

Experiential Learning Program

The following was written by a student who participates in the Equestrian Program.

My name is Tracey. I live at the St. Cloud Children's Home. My parents could not take care of me for lots of different reasons. I have had some trouble in school and I get very sad and depressed. Sometimes my feelings are overwhelming and I don't know what do with them. I have lots of counselors and groups that help me to deal with the issues in my life and I hope that soon I will be able to go home to be with my family. While I am living here at the Children's Home, one of the things that has helped me a lot is being able to be around the horses. We have 11 right now. When I first came here, I was afraid of them because they are so big and scary. Goldie was the first horse that I ever petted. He is 35 years old and he is very gentle, which helped me to not be afraid. I get to go to the barn after school sometimes. There are some days when I don't want to get out of bed. Going to school can be hard when all you want to do is cry. Sometimes it even hurts inside of my stomach and I wonder if I am sick. I realized that being with the horses made that sick feeling go away for a while. When I get to ride the horses, I feel calm and happy. I don't feel that way very often. There are lots of kids here like me. Last fall, we had a horse show and my parents got to see me ride a horse. I won a trophy for being the most improved rider. They were very proud of me. For the first time, I felt like I was good at something.

I like to help feed the horses and watch them play in the pasture. When the horses get sick or hurt, one of the Vets from Cold Spring or St. Joe comes all the way to our barn to take care of them. Dennis, from the Feed Store, delivers Purina Feed for our older horses, who need special food to stay healthy. The Rocky Riders Saddle Club gives money directly to the Feed Store every year to pay for the grain. We get hay from the Hemmesch farm in Richmond. Jim brings his kids to help unload the semi truck. They work really hard. Lloyd keeps their feet trimmed so they don't get sore legs. Just this past fall, Meg from Mimbach Fleet donated a horse and some brand new riding helmets. Lynn, from the vet clinic volunteered to haul one of our horses last summer when he needed x-rays. Mr. Nelson has given us so many things over the years that it is hard to keep track. At least six horses and some pretty fancy saddles have come from the Nelson family. All of these gifts have helped to support the horse program while many other programs are being cut. If you would like to support this program, please call Michelle at 320-650-1582.

From May 2004

SCCH School News F 2003-04

Another school year is rapidly drawing to a close at the St. Cloud Children's Home. As always, many exciting things occur each year. Some are of the planned variety; others come as a surprise and keep us on our toes at all times! Here are a few of the highlights of the 2003-04 school year we are about to complete.

During the last week of August, 2003, we kicked off our school year with an open house and ice cream social. This has become an annual event for us which provides a wonderful opportunity for teachers to become acquainted with our new students, as well as new staff. We always enjoy the great ice cream sundaes and the chance to visit in the beautiful courtyard garden, which is planted and nurtured along each summer by students and staff involved in our summer school programming.

In October we had parent-teacher conferences for parents of our students, as well as in cottages where students were able to review self-assessments of their progress with their school advisor and cottage staff.

In December, our Holiday Auction becomes a focus of attention for all SCCH students and staff. The auction, which has occurred annually for approximately the past 30 years, provides an opportunity for students to use daily school points earned for the academic and behavioral progress demonstrated to purchase gifts for family members, special friends, and themselves. The gifts are collected annually by school staff through generous donations from businesses, service organizations, and individuals in the St. Cloud area.

January brought the mid-point of our school year, along with our First Semester awards program. Awards are presented during a 90-minute ceremony for various types of achievement. Awards included are Smart Choice awards, Academic Honor Roll, awards for No Office Referrals, Perfect Attendance awards, Headed for Success awards, and the Outstanding Student awards. A similar awards program will be coming up at the end of May as we end our school year.

This spring, planning began in March for our International Day. This is the second year for our International Day event, organized by school staff in conjunction with the District 742 Service Learning Coordinator and international students from St. Cloud State University. The day includes mini-sessions presented by university students from a variety of foreign lands and cultures, teaching SCCH students about their respective countries, customs and languages. Music from different cultures and samples of foods from different lands are a big part of this day of learning about our diverse world.

As the school year draws to a close, we have begun our planning for summer school. After a week of vacation following the end of the regular school year, we will begin again with classes that provide students the opportunity to continue their basic skill development in Reading, Writing and Mathematics. Opportunities for instruction in Science will be provided. Elective class opportunities include our Cultivating Youth Program, with its' focus on horticulture and gardening, Fitness & Recreation to assist students in developing lifetime leisure activity skills, and Appreciation of Special Needs, which gives students the opportunity to learn disability awareness and to have a day serving as a mentor for a developmentally disabled individual at a nearby summer camp.

From September 2003

Vocational Training

We began offering vocational training to our students many years ago in recognition of the major role this experience plays in personal development, self-esteem, and functional improvement. When youth are more prepared to navigate the world of work, our efforts in improving behavioral, emotional, physical, and spiritual health are reinforced. It also encourages and teaches youth to be contributing members of family and community. When we offer supervised work experiences to youth, they learn the value and rewards of both individual and group effort. Guided work experience is a powerful tool in teaching the dynamics of personal and group responsibility with immediate rewards and practical consequences. For many youth in our care, this type of experience is the pathway to rediscovering relational trust, self-worth, emotional/behavioral control, and motivation to succeed in other areas of their life. Students who have reported back months and years after discharge, state they have used the education and skills received to gain and maintain successful employment.

Our vocational programming is a collaborative effort employing the skills program staff, special education teachers, and graduate students at St. Cloud State University. Components of the program include vocational testing and counseling, exploring the world of work and occupations, job search, application skills, interview skills, basic employee responsibilities, understanding compensation and benefits laws, money management, business operation, supervisor/employee relationships, and paid work experience. Work experience is offered in the following areas: food preparation, institutional housekeeping, vending machine operation, horticulture, landscaping, lawn care, and equestrian care.

The work program is also utilized to help students fulfill court ordered restitution obligations. We continue to explore resources to improve and enhance this service for youth.

From July 2003

ANNOUNCING - A New Program Service at St. Cloud Children's Home

45 Day Pre-Adolescent Assessment

Beginning on July 1st the St. Cloud Children's Home will offer pre-adolescent assessment service to augment our already popular adolescent assessment service. This new service is offered in response to many requests by parents, county representatives, and insurance companies to expand our services in this area. This new service will be incorporated into our Cottage 6 pre-adolescent program providing up to 4 beds of 45-day inpatient assessment.

Program Description

Written Assessment Report completed in 45 days
Therapeutic environment geared to the developmental needs of the 8 to 12 year old child that acts to stabilize behaviors and increase social skills
Child is involved in specialized elementary education program (during the school year)
Multi-disciplinary professional assessment team competent in preadolescent issues
A comprehensive assessment of child and family dynamics
Assessment tools and recommendations geared to the individual child and expressed needs
Report Components

Health history, evaluation, and recommendations
Dietary Assessment (when indicated)
Family history, evaluation, and recommendations
Psychiatric evaluation, medication review, and recommendations
Educational assessment and recommendations (when indicated)
School observation report and recommendations (during school year)
Psychological assessment, testing interpretations, and recommendations
Behavioral observation report recommendations
The Assessment Team

The assessment team includes Licensed Psychologist, Educational Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Dietician, Special Education Teachers, Youth Ministers, Therapeutic Recreation Specialist, Mental Health Professional, and Mental Health Practitioners.

Making a Referral

Please call Jan at 320-650-1576. Information about the St. Cloud Children's Home along with referral and placement forms may be down loaded using the links above. We are a provider for most major insurance companies.

From March 2003

New Service for Adolescents

The St. Cloud Children's Home and St. Cloud Hospital Recovery Plus Unit proudly announces a new collaborative service for adolescents with chemical dependency issues. Beginning February 3, 2003, Cottage Three of the St. Cloud Children's Home provides a shelter service to students enrolled in the Outpatient Recovery Plus Program at the St. Cloud Hospital. Students from this program join the SCCH program from 4:15 p.m. until 8:15 a.m. This specialized programming fulfills a need for the outpatient program to offer a shelter environment for students whose homes are far away or require a structured and therapeutic environment thru the course of outpatient treatment. Referrals to this new service are made to the St. Cloud Hospital Recovery Plus Unit. For Initial Chemical Dependency Assessment contact 320-251-2700 ext. 53357 and ask for Barb. Referrals to Primary Chemical Dependency Treatment after completion of Assessment contact Steve Lanz at 320-251-2700 ext. 59021.

From November 2002

Cultivating Youth Program

The Cultivating Youth Program's mission is to enrich the lives of youth at the St. Cloud Children's Home through direct gardening experiences under the guidance of experienced gardeners. The foundation of this program rests with the belief that the activity of gardening is inherently therapeutic and emotionally supportive throughout all stages of life. The program's design is to foster knowledge of horticulture, vocational skills, and stewardship of nature.

The program is active from mid May through mid September of each year. There are two main experiential components to the program: A summer educational experience associated with District 742 school programs and a work/vocational experience associated with the St. Cloud Children's Home Work program.

The summer's educational experience will focus on individual and group projects in all aspects of horticulture including plant propagation and garden design. Time will be spent in the classroom, green house, and gardens.

The work/vocational experience will consist of both paid and volunteer opportunities. The focus will be gaining basic work skills, landscaping knowledge, and entrepreneurship. Time will be spent building and maintaining the gardens and greenhouse.

Students and staff will be engaged in four activity areas: a courtyard flower garden, a vegetable garden (by the green house and barn), the cold frame green house, and in the classrooms at the Children's Home. Most activities will be outdoors on SCCH campus with occasional planned field trips outside of the city.

All Students are eligible to participate in either or both experiences based on their individual education and treatment plans. Program staff include teachers, counselors and adult volunteers.

There are special events that will also take place each year as part of the project. These events include a garden show, plant sale, and fall garden harvest. The purpose of these events is to display the efforts of the staff and students, call public attention to the project, provide fund raising to continue the project, experience entrepreneurship, and provide fresh produce to families in need.

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