Four years ago, an idea was discussed by the Chippewa County Family Project about building a teen foster home in Sault Ste. Marie. Foster teens would be relocated downstate – several hours away. In August 2019, a groundbreaking ceremony started the physical process.
The 1.1 million dollar home is located on 3 Mile Road – next to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The 6000 Sq. Ft. building is expected to be open by the end of July and will house teenagers – ages 14 to 18.
Now the home is looking for some dedicated and qualified help.
“We are looking for house parents,” says board member, Linda Bouvet. “We have a boys wing and a girls wing so we are looking for house parents to staff each side. That will be a full-time job in some respects in that you are parents to these kids and living in the house but you can have an outside job. A little bit more down the road, we will be looking for part-time help because this house has to be staffed at night. We have to have a night watchman, so to speak.”
Besides providing a safe home, and reliable, caring foster parents, they wanted to make sure that the children were able to remain in their hometown.
“We are able to keep them here in Sault Ste Marie so it’s so much better for them and for our community,” board member, Mary Jo Duvall explained. “The idea is to treat this like any teenager living in a home. Now from everything we know, it will not be business as usual when teenagers live in their house. These kids will come with some special needs and some care that they need and some follow up. We want to help them acclimate to school activities. If they want to play in sports, we want to make that an option for them.”
If you would like more information about the Chippewa County Family Project – click here
Source: 9and10news.com
In 2010, he married Elena Rasaiah in Sault Ste Marie and in 2011, he and his son, Mitchell, moved to the Soo to reside.
Jim continues to live in the Soo while covering breaking news, sports and providing special feature stories across the Eastern U.P.for 9&10 News.He is a licensed drone pilot.
In his spare time, he likes to check out the freighters passing through the area with Mitchell and Elena. He frequently takes dramatic drone and ground video of freighters for the Sault Area Convention & Visitors Bureau where his videos can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/ilovethesoo/ or his son, Mitchell's page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/351979908224549/
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