HELENA — Margaret Stuart Youth Home in Helena has received ARPA funding from Lewis and Clark County Commissioners in hopes of an expansion.
"I'm really excited because the building was built in the late 80s, and it has seen a lot of use over the years," said Colleen Rivers, the youth home’s program director.
Margaret Stuart Youth Home provides short-term crisis intervention placements and longer-term group care for children 10 to 18 years old, and with the $35,000 from the County Commissioners, the home may be expanding sooner than later.
Rivers says the funding for a preliminary architectural report will hopefully grant one of her wishes.
"My biggest dream is that maybe we have an expansion, and I get a couple more bedrooms out of it so that it'll give me some more flexibility in the kiddos that I can take," said Rivers.
The nearly 6,000 foot home has seven bedrooms, and Rivers hopes to have eight to accommodate more children in need.
The project is just beginning and is exciting for not just Rivers but also the kids she works for.
"I work really hard to take very good care of this home because it makes a big difference to the kids who come here. They see that everyone takes care of it, and I imagine coming in and having something that's pretty brand new would make me feel safe and like I was valued," said Rivers.
As of now, the county and the youth home are looking for proposal requests from firms to take on the preliminary architectural report.
