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WHY WE DO RESIDENTIAL CARE
Many people believe the worst placement for any child, who cannot live at
home with his parents, is to be in residential care. The staff of St.
Peter's Home for Boys believes residential care is one of the best out of home
placement for adolescents. We do not believe residential care is
anti-family, but it is an opportunity to build tomorrow's fathers, for
better future families. We believe St. Peter’s Home can offer more care,
more attention, more opportunity to experience the world to every child than
any foster home placement could possibly provide.
This means we will not be an orphanage, will not be a "kids jail" and will
not be a psychiatric hospital substitute. We are here to give them a home
and to surround each of them with people who are dedicated to being their
surrogate family. We believe the teenage years are a time when the child
grows into adulthood, not a time to fix a childhood passed away. For the
boys, who come to live here, it is their last opportunity to learn the
essential values of living which will help them become a whole adult. We
believe in residential care, because we believe in the future of every boy
who walks into the home. St. Peter's Home is not dedicated to fixing a
child's past problems, but primarily pledges its energies, its efforts, its
commitment to making complete adults. St. Peter’s Home is committed to
providing an environment which allows every boy to complete the journey to
adulthood. It is a place, where every child has a chance to experience the
world and all its possibilities.
We not only teach each young man how to say "Hello" but also what to say
afterwards. It is not enough to teach the adolescent how to set a table. It
is to help him discover a meal is more than just a simple act of
nourishment, but actually a complex act of socialization. A meal is a time
where they can nourish their mind and soul more than their body.
There is no future in becoming a better boy. We care to make better adults.
We teach boys how to become a man and why being a gentleman is better. The
journey to adulthood is learning a selfish act is an act of weakness while
every unselfish act is an act which makes them stronger. We want every child
to discover to work together in cooperation, is better than competing for
their self promotion. The best way to meet their own needs, is to focus on
meeting the needs of others. The staff teaches skills not only to benefit
the young adult, but how he can use those skills to better his home and his
community. Any adolescent who leaves St. Peter's and does not value himself,
others, and his community; we believe we have failed. Every resident during
his stay at St. Peter's Home not only receives help, the real goal is for
him to learn how to give help back to others.
We have a vision of tomorrow, where today’s children can make the world a
better place to live. The children we receive into our care are the children
who others no longer believe in their future. We do residential care because
we do believe in their future. Their future is our future, and we believe
they have something to offer to the future. So we do residential care to
help them discover those things which will enrich their future and our
future. Our life and their life will be greater because we knew them and
they knew us.
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