THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501120164
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
After 10 years of reaching out a hand to runaway girls, Seton House will celebrate its service to the community with an open house.
Sunday, from 1 to 4 p.m., the crisis shelter at the corner of Little Neck and Lynnhaven roads invites the public to come in and take a look around. The invitation comes with a plea for money.
``There's a lot of competition out there with a lot of other worthy causes,'' said Kathy Jeffries, director of the private, non-profit shelter since March.
This one has served a sizable segment of the local adolescent community. Since 1985, 1,800 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 were admitted as residents, 450 boys and girls received out-client services and 5,600 calls came in over the home's hotline. The number can be used as a crisis and referral service for youths, runaways, potential runaways and parents. The hotline provides information, assists out-of-state runaways and relays messages to or participates in conference calls with children and parents.
The shelter's slogan is ``Talk Don't Run.'' Services are available 24 hours a day and are free.
Seton House is run partly by a federal grant from Housing and Human Services. That covers about 40 percent of the shelter's $200,000 annual budget, which includes six full-time and five part-time staff members. The rest of the operating funds - $120,000 - comes from the community as donations from churches, civic organizations, private donations or organized fund-raisers.
The average age of girls who get help and receive counseling at the shelter is 14. Typically, they are teenagers who've either run away from home, are thinking about running away or who've been on the streets for a while. Girls come on their own or are referred by schools or the police.
``They're having trouble communicating with their parents or guardians, their self-esteem is low, they have behavior problems or have been abused sexually or physically,'' said Jeffries.
The seven-bedroom home can hold up to 10 girls. ``The average number per night is eight and that's real consistent all year round, even at Christmastime we had eight,'' Jeffries said. Even while she looks for funds to keep this shelter operating, her work has made her aware of another need in the area. ``My long-range goal is to get a place open for boys. There's nowhere like this for them to go.'' MEMO: Seton House is at 642 North Lynnhaven Road. The open house is Sunday
from 1 to 4 p.m. Mayor Meyera Oberndorf will make a presentation between
3 and 4 p.m. The home can be reached at 498-4673. The hotline is
498-HELP.
KEYWORDS: ADOLESCENTS SETON HOUSE by CNB