For kids away from home and in residential treatment, it can be hard to transition to life at a residential facility. Regardless if they’ve been removed from home due to abuse/neglect, their own behavior issues, or trouble with the law, these kids miss home. They miss their parents, siblings, pets, and friends. They miss their own bedrooms with their own toys and books. They even miss their own school, though they might not admit that.
At Eagle Village we know this and we try everything we can to make life on campus more home-like, supportive, and consistent while we work with each resident’s family to return them home as quickly as possible.
In the earliest years of Eagle Village, we had House Parents to help accomplish this goal. Homer and Janet Yoder were House Parents for the residential program at Eagle Village from 1970-1975. For this couple, the idea of home was powerful. They tried, to the best of their ability, to make Eagle Village feel like home to the boys in their care by demonstrating what a healthy home looked like. At the same time though, the Yoders knew nothing could ever be as great as a safe, healthy home with their own families.
“I remember someone coming to visit from a group, and they said, ‘I bet the boys just love this, don’t they?’ Janet recalls. “And I said, ‘You know, if they had the chance, they’d much rather be home.’ That’s home to them.”
Today, we know that is still true. The goal is never to keep kids as long as possible, but always to return them to a safe home environment as quickly as possible. Our combination of individual and group therapy, experiential interventions, family therapy, and caring staff have helped us achieve this for hundreds of kids.
Hear the Yoders tell their experience as House Parents firsthand in the video below.
