For more information, please contact:
Marie McGeehan
Director of Communications
Boys & Girls Town of Missouri
Phone: 314-535-7911
Fax: 314-535-6632
marie.mcgeehan@great-circle.org

William S. Anheuser Charitable Fund Helps Youth Aging Out of
Residential Care Learn Independent Living Skills

Fund Grants $40K to Life Skills Program at Boys & Girls Town of Missouri

St. Louis, Mo. (July 27, 2009) –Youth who have aged out of residential care are a vulnerable population. Often these teens and young adults are unable to live in a safe environment with a family member or relative and have no alternative living arrangements in place. Lacking skills needed for self-sufficiency, coupled with the absence of a nurturing support system, these older youth face a real risk of homelessness particularly if they have never acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to live in an independent and healthy environment.

William S. Anheuser Charitable Fund, a fund of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation, has made a grant of $40,000 to Boys & Girls Town of Missouri to create a life skills program for young men in residential care. The program will serve approximately 30 youth and will include lessons in career planning, communication, daily living skills, home life skills, housing and money management, self-care, social relationships, work and study skills and work life. Community leaders will be invited to make presentations about personal experiences, successes and failures, in an effort to model how to handle life experiences. 

“Youth in residential care age out at 18 compared to youth in foster care who age out at 21, which gives them less time to acquire the life skills they need to function on their own,” said Kathy O’Brien, Eastern Region vice president of Boys & Girls Town of Missouri. “We are grateful to the William S. Anheuser Charitable Fund for helping to create a positive future for St. Louis by supporting youth needing these life skills.”

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About Boys & Girls Town of  Missouri
Founded in 1949, Boys & Girls Town of Missouri is a nationally accredited organization that provides extensive treatment through residential, foster care case management, outreach and family therapy programs for troubled youth with a history of abuse, neglect, severe behavior disorders and psychological problems. The organization's mission to "improve the lives of children with emotional and behavioral problems through superior, family-focused services" is fulfilled through campuses in St. James, St. Louis, Springfield and Columbia, MO.  BGTM helps redirect the lives of more than 6,700 boys and girls and their family members annually.  For more information, please visit the website at www.bgtm.org

About Edgewood Children’s Center
Founded in 1834, Edgewood Children’s Center provides compassionate care and treatment to restore children and strengthen families through intensive therapy, education, case management and support services. Many of the children served have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused; neglected; or abandoned. Edgewood offers a broad array of treatment, education, prevention and support services for children and families, active child advocacy, professional consultation and training. Edgewood Children’s Center is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit, nonsectarian, United Way agency. For more information please visit the Web site at www.eccstl.org.