Work behind schedule at St. Jude’s

By Cassie Tomlin

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 | midnight

The Pregnant and Parenting Teens Program at St. Jude's Ranch for Children won't open for new residents this month as planned.

ChoiceCenter Worldwide, a leadership program, took on the task of renovating a guest house at St. Jude's and had planned to finish the project in two weeks, by Aug. 8. The group managed to raise about $200,000 and revamped the Ranch's community hall and gym, but the home for teenage mothers is still not ready to open.

Jennifer Becker, a spokeswoman for St. Jude's, said the house still needs doors, an alarm and sprinkler system and some baseboard work before about 13 teenage girls, their children and a full-time caregiver can move in.

She had previously expected the home, which will be the only one of its kind in Southern Nevada, to open in September.

She said she's already getting calls about placing girls and now hopes to open by Oct. 1. "But that's really dependent on the sprinkler system," she said. "With the setback in construction, the date may not be logical."

The Sunrise Rotary and some of the remaining volunteer team from ChoiceCenter Worldwide recently finished painting the home, which used to be the guest house for visitors to residents at the home for abused and abandoned youth.

The volunteers also pulled up old tile, put in carpet, knocked out two walls and fixed the air conditioning.

Geoff Myers, the leader of the volunteer group, said unfortunately, the group didn't finish on time, and now some of the members have gone home out of state or on vacation, and three dropped out.

Myers, who owns a Las Vegas financial planning company, said the remaining 15 are busy making calls trying to find a donated fire sprinkler system, a tough task.

"One of two things had to happen," he said. "We had to raise money or get people to donate their time and talents, and we've found that in this economy, people aren't really willing to part with money."

He said the group found a donated air conditioner, and he's "hoping for the same kind miracle with the sprinklers and seeking donations."

Corrine Clement, ChoiceCenter Worldwide's chief operating officer, said even though the project was not completed, the volunteers finished more than some might have expected, given such an aggressive schedule. The work they completed more than fulfilled the expectations set out by the program, she said.

"The foundation of our training is developing leaders, and the context is that leaders often have to perform under extreme circumstances," she said. "It really helps to open up for them what's possible, from what seems impossible, and when they play as a team, they get creative about how to source and bring different people and entities together for a project to serve a common good."

Becker said the ranch could not budget for the improvements, especially with Medicaid cutbacks in November, and had to rely on donations.

She said ChoiceCenter had worked at the ranch at least once before and that she would certainly work with the group again.

"They just have this very, very short time period, and I think they bit off more than they could chew," she said.

Cassie Tomlin is a reporter for the Home News. She can be reached at 948-2073 or [email protected].