The Solution

We came to recognize this urgent need and sought to do something to help these children. We met with many agencies in our communities that provide services to children to perform a needs-based assessment. The agencies interviewed included the Department of Health & Welfare, The Haven, Gustafson House, The Harbor House / Idaho Youth Ranch, The Shepherd's Inn and others. The result of this assessment confirmed that there is an immediate need for a facility that could accommodate a minimum of 16 beds for males, 12 beds for females, and 7 beds for pregnant teenage girls.
Pearl House Layout
 
Pearl House The Project
Our plan is to establish a residential facility for the care and treatment of children who are unable to live in their homes. These children frequently suffer from serious emotional disturbances, mental illness, come from dysfunctional homes, or are just in need of a safe, supportive environment for a period of time. At Pearl House the children will be cared for and monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by the staff. House 'parents' will be on the premises at all times, and will be available to provide for the needs of these children 24 hours a day.
 
Arial Pearl House Image

The Location
We have purchased a 20-acre parcel of land just south of Sunnyside Road between and bordering Hitt and Township Roads for this project. Keith Kennedy, a local architect, has donated his time and talent to design Pearl House, workshops, and recreation areas.

View a 3-D fly-by Model of Pearl House:Fly_3.avi (4.35 Mb)

Note: If you receive an error trying to play the 3-D model,
try downloading and installing this file first:
ffdshow-20020617.exe (318K)
 
The Goal
To accomplish this goal, we hope to raise $2,500,000. This amount will fund the construction of five buildings.
These include:
  1. The 65 bed facility for housing youth in need of shelter.
  2. A recreational center including indoor and outdoor basketball courts, an in-ground skateboard park, and rock climbing wall. These features are intended to be open to all children in our communities.
  3. Equine facilities to provide for therapeutic interventions. Other animal husbandry and farm activities will be provided as feasible or available.
  4. Workshops (carpentry, fabric, pottery and auto-mechanic) in order to encourage and provide focused interaction between the children and their parents.
  5. An open-air theater to encourage the creative arts with youth in the community as many of these children can often express themselves therapeutically in the creative arts.