• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Sheltering Children: Laura Dester Center Houses Children Who Were Abused at Home

Posted on: Sunday, 9 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Leigh Woosley, Tulsa World, Okla.

Apr. 9--No one would guess the bustling children in a colorful, sunlit room were there because of neglect or abuse at home.

A dark-haired girl costumed in a pink tutu and shiny slippers was putting dresses and accessories on Barbie dolls. A wiry boy in socked feet left a stack of blocks and, on his way to the door, parodied John Travolta's disco moves from "Saturday Night Fever."

This is the lighter side of the Laura Dester Shelter, where kids in Tulsa County come after being mistreated at home.

The organized learning program for 6- to 10-year-olds contrasts with the horrors many of these children recently escaped.

Before the program started last fall, days for these kids weren't organized or directed toward learning. Now they have a full-time teacher who addresses subjects ranging from reading and math to nutritious eating.

A similar change is happening in the building next door, where children from newborn to age 5 stay. Old, broken toys are gone. A tattered couch centered on the TV was replaced with play space and a child-size easel.

A teacher also is on hand, and on a recent morning, kids were scattered across the floor playing with staff and volunteers.

Although the state funds the shelter, the changes were made with money and effort from the community. State cash only goes so far and sometimes struggles to supply the overcrowded shelter with the basics.

Feeling the crunch as more and more children turn up, the shelter just south of downtown has only in recent years reached out to the community for help.

Much of the community money and services going into Laura Dester came from the work of the Children's Service Advisory Board, which was formed in 1948 to help Tulsa-area children in shelters and foster homes.

"A lot of us travel through life and these children are invisible," said board member Gini Fox. "They don't know what happens to these children, who are picked up every day. They don't even know that (there are children) picked up every day. But it's the responsibility of every adult in our city."

The community has been helping in big ways since the shelter reached out about a decade ago, said shelter Director Marshall Tyner.

"This was always a deep, dark and secret place, and I think the community was out there waiting for it to be tapped," he said. "I think the best thing we've ever done for these kids is letting the community know we're here."

The teachers at Laura Dester are paid with $186,875 in grants that the Children's Service Advisory Board gathered last year. It's earned $33,000 so far this year.

Oftentimes it's hard to form a relationship between state agencies and the community they support, but the Laura Dester Shelter has been open to that partnership, said Julie Gustafson, board president.

"And because of that there's been many services that have been added to the shelter program," she said. "Certainly in the past five years services have been coming into the shelter because of the generous community in Tulsa."

Children at the shelter are there an average of 12 days, but for many, it's much longer. Some stay for months because there's little room in the foster-care system.

The shelter has made gains, but it still lacks services for the kids there. And all the services in the world can't change the lack of space there.

The shelter is licensed to hold 38 children, but it's consistently running at least 10 children above capacity, Tyner said.

Almost a dozen children each day must stay at the Frances Willard home because there simply aren't enough beds for them.

State money is available to buy land and build a new and bigger shelter, Tyner said, but the community will have to step up for everything that goes inside it.

------------

Leigh Woosley 581-8465 leigh.woosley@tulsaworld.com

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, Tulsa World, Okla.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: Tulsa World

More News in this Category