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Youth Shelter Progressing |
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Thursday, 12 November 2009 |
By LEE COLEMAN
Assistant Editor
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The city of Guymon and the Texas County Coalition are making progress in their efforts to develop a Youth Shelter in the downtown area.
"We have been working with the city for quite awhile," said Rachel Hensley of the coalition. "We have received a $35,000 grant, part of it is in-kind, and we have actually raised about $11,000 in cash towards the remodeling of the house. We have a local board of volunteers created to help make decisions for the shelter."
The shelter will be located at 219 NW 4th Street and will initially house four youths in need of shelter.
"The state has advised us they are in a June format for the grant money to come in," said city manager Ted Graham. "We are kind of in a stall."
Once the funding is in place, Hensley estimated construction of the remodeling will take about two months to complete. The delays in funding and construction will not deter a determined Hensley.
"The reason I got involved with the shelter was because through my relationship with volunteering, I came to realize they [parents] were driving to Woodward to take their kids to the shelter and sometimes even further than that," she noted. "I thought why doesn't Texas County have its own shelter.
"Why aren't we taking care of our own kids? There aren't a lot of resources for kids in the county and it's sad."
Donations to help move the initiative along can be made to the Guymon Enrichment Foundation or by calling the Guymon office of the Oklahoma Department of Human Resources at (580) 338-8665. The coalition is also seeking trade volunteers to help paint and do other work on the shelter and this can be done by contacting Terri Kalm at (580) 338-2376.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 November 2009 )
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