DYER | For at-risk teens like 14-year-old Bri, the St. Francis Center inside St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers is home.
They eat, sleep and go to school there, only leaving the secure area for some supervised outdoor exercise.
So when the Aug. 24 flood forced them from the center, it was rough.
Bri was sitting in class and heard announcements over the loudspeaker grow increasingly urgent. First, people were asked to move their cars. Eventually, the hospital was evacuated.
Bri grabbed her toothbrush and pillow. She lost some pictures in the commotion.
But, staff saved most of the residents' belongings, said Kim Frank, manager of St. Francis Center.
The last four months, residents have lived in another part of the hospital. Monday, they'll be back home. The center was blessed and rededicated at a prayer- and song-filled celebration Friday afternoon.
"We're so happy to be home," Frank said.
The St. Francis Center is an adolescent residential treatment center. The center accepts patients from 12 to 21 years old, but most residents aren't older than 18, said Linda Thompson, director of behavioral health at the hospital.
All of the teens are court-ordered there. They all have mental health issues. Some have criminal records, others have a troubled home life, Thompson said.
A typical resident stays nine to 15 months. Altogether, 42 teens call the center home. They have individual and group therapy, occupational therapy, recreational therapy and visits with a child psychiatrist. As they progress, they move into different programs within the center.
Bri is in the Journey program, which offers a little more freedom.
She has come a long way since she entered the St. Francis Center, Frank said.
School was boring. Depression and peer pressure steered her toward drug use, bulimia and self-mutilation, Bri said.
Now, she looks forward to going back to a regular school. She wants to join the school newspaper staff and eventually become a writer.
"I have a lot of goals," she said.
She credits the staff at St. Francis Center for that. No matter how many times she wanted to give up, they wouldn't give up on her, Bri said.
