Children's House Supported by Strong Foundations

By James Kennedy

What began as an orphanage in 1884 Mineola, Queens, now houses the executive and support staff for a multitude of benevolent programs throughout Long Island under the name Children's House.

This past election day, Nov. 4, Children's House voted to merge with Family Service Association of Nassau County, Inc. The new agency will be known as Family and Children's Association, Inc.

As the specifics are still being ironed out the exact make-up of the new organization is not yet known, however Children's House, a staple of Mineola for decades, has carved out a reputation for itself as a champion for children.

Children's House President and CEO for the past 14 years, Richard Dina, described Children's House as a remarkable organization.

It began as one house for abused children on Willis Ave. and Second St. in Mineola. In 1928 the organization left that house and moved to a building on Old Country Road between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

Then in 1986 Children House settled into its new headquarters at 100 East Old Country Road. "Today it is anything, but an orphanage," said the CEO, "The mission of caring for children is still in tact, but it is a different age with different needs."

"It is a network of 24 individual programs along a carefully integrated continuum of care," said Director of Fund Raising and Public Relations Sean Phillips.

The series of programs often stem from one instance of an abused and terrified child seeking some sort of assistance. However, this one problem may lead to many others and subsequent programs if the child is agreeable.

Each of the programs have come out of a new need explained Dina. He also said that 12 years ago the children returned to their homes after the program was completed, now a days many children do not have a home or even families to which they might return.

Programs were then developed to help these children. "The nature of an organization like this is that it is always evolving." said Dina.

The Programs

"The programs are carefully laid out so no one falls through the cracks," added Phillips of their comprehensive nature.

Phillips opined that one of the most interesting programs is one that provides mediation between children and their parents "We try to keep families together," he commented.

This program falls under the Runaway Homeless Youth Services programs, one of five sets of programs under the name Children's House.

The program for runaways offers runaway shelters for homeless youngsters ages 16 to 21 called Children's House/Nassau Haven, which is located in Wantaugh and Children's House/Podell Haven, which is located in East Hampton.

In describing the functions of a shelter in contrast to long term care facilities, Phillips offers the analogy of an emergency room in comparison to a hospital.

Children's House offers its fair share of "hospitals" as well.

One year long program known as Walk About, one for men in Bethpage and one for women in Freeport, teaches homeless youngsters between the ages of 17 and 21 life skills such as how to properly take a job interview and how to properly write a resume.

Much like living in a home, the men and women of these programs must adhere to certain regulations or they will be thrown out of the program.

Family Support & Preventative Services are a series of programs designed to help get families with children suffering from severe emotional disabilities back on their feet according to Phillips.

The Hempstead Nursery Co-op watches babies while their mothers attend school, train for a profession or go to work. Interviews with mothers often reveal the need for additional programs such as protection from threatening boyfriends, counselling, food stamps.

Other services include (both long term and short term) counselling, support groups, transitional housing and around the clock in-home care for the children to prevent psychiatric hospitalization.

Phillips explained that Children's House veers away from foster care and certain forms psychiatric help because of the expense.

During this in-house program a counsellor gives the parents of an emotionally disturbed child, often diagnosed with Terrets or ADHD, some free time of their own.

During this time the parents are given time to themselves and the counsellor bonds with the child. "It is a very unique program," commented Phillips.

Behavioral Health Services deals with substance abuse problems and children socialization programs in the forms of treatment services, a summer camp and an association to assist those recovering from comas.

Residential Services programs provide four homes providing a long term facility for abused and neglected boys, one for emotionally disabled boys and one specializing in mentally ill children over the age of 18.

Independent Living Services provides basic skill training for the youngsters in how to live life on their own as well as affordable housing and cash assistance.

The People

Children's House communicates with the community through a mailing list of about 5,000 people and the help of local papers. The notoriety is significantly important according to Dina, as the organization is called upon to raise money to run its own programs.

Dina answers questions about the lack of notoriety for Children's House by stating that it is a lot better known than it was 10 years ago. He admits that it is important to get the message of their existence out to the people to communicate their message and to request help in their mission.

Children's House is called upon to raise money for itself using fund raising events such as a golf outing, a walk-a-thon held in the fall and their annual dinner dance the most recent one raising $250,000 for the organization.

There is a governing body of 35 board members who represent the whole community in developing the programs and fund raisers as well as shaping Children's House.

The driving forces behind these fund raising events and in fact the make-up of the "continum of care" is the 75 volunteers who run Children's House.

Mineola High School student Nicole Gregorius is doing an internship at Children's House through her school's tech prep program and with the help of Mrs. McAree the nurse at the school and the tech prep advisor.

Her primary responsibility was spending time with the children who were waiting for their parents to finish up their time in one of the support groups Children's House offer.

Gregorius would like to be involved in the Big Brother/Big Sister Program, and other projects that would give her more hands-on experience.

"Children's House is great because people benefit from it," commented Gregorius.

In Closing

From its humble and altruistic beginnings as an orphanage, Children's House has grown into a "continuum of care" with the help of dedicated volunteers.

In the name of children this organization operates with the intent and purpose of helping those selfsame children of Nassau County achieve happy and healthy lives.