Guardian angels, that is.
For 13 years, MacDougall has led Carle High's unique experiment in showing how love, attention and nurturing can rescue society's at-risk children.
The school has won state awards as a model continuation school, and teacher Alan Siegel was named a state Teacher of the Year.
Part of Carle's support network includes those MacDougall calls his guardian angels -- people from the community who open their homes to children who might otherwise be homeless.
In speaking with some of those community members earlier this year, MacDougall said he realized the kids needing homes seriously outnumbered the guardian angels.
MacDougall said the problem of runaways, homeless and “throwaway” kids – those whose families simply don't care enough to keep track of them – has always been there. “What hasn't been a constant is that the numbers have risen significantly,” MacDougall said.
In fact, he believes there are as many as 1,000 homeless school-age kids in Lake County at any one time, citing a recent report on the county's kids and Census data.
At the same time, the number of reported runaways has doubled since 2001, with runaways numbering 165 in 2006, he said.
The throwaways can't be counted, he said, because they're either missing or their families threw them out and never bothered to report they were gone.
MacDougall knows these aren't just statistics. He knows there are real students behind those numbers, who are living in what he calls “obnoxious” conditions – sleeping in tents, using a hose for drinking water and bathing.
“There's a lot of them,” he said. Many more than people think.
For years the guardian angels – the many wonderful people in the Konocti Unified School District who have opened their homes to homeless children over the years – helped give those children shelter, said MacDougall.
Yet, with the situation beginning to reach critical mass, in February MacDougall and concerned community members got together to take a new step. They formed a committee to start a safe house for Lake County youth up to age 19 who, for whatever reason, are homeless.
Committee members include Tom Jordan, Donna Dawson, Rose Weaver, Jessica Crynes, Flora Krasnovsky Shepard, Doc Savarese, Ellie Frank, Chris Massingill, Karen and Bill MacDougall, Valerie Peng and Verna Rogers, said MacDougall.
“It's a group of hardworking people who have decided this is going to happen,” said MacDougall.
The group has been meeting weekly for one hour, said MacDougall, and the momentum is growing.
“People are excited,” he said. “It's rolling.”
The effort's mission statement reads: “Lake County youth will have the hope to heal and establish a healthy lifestyle in a safe, secure environment.”
The effort's lead agency will be the Lake County Community Action Agency (LCCAA).
A safe house offering temporary shelter is “something that we've needed here for years,” said Georgina Lehne, LCCAA's executive director.
Lake County is now home to 65,000, she said, with approximately 14,380 children aged 0 to 17.
Many kids at risk
Of those children, Lehne said, 21.3 percent are at high risk of homelessness due to poverty and family problems.
Those conditions are worsened by drug and alcohol use and abuse, said Lehne.
She provided statistics that revealed 29 percent of local seventh graders report having tried drugs or alcohol by age 12; by the time those students reach 11th grade, that percentage has risen dramatically, to 77 percent.
By ninth grade, 10 percent of students have reported binge drinking – having five or more drinks in a few hours' time – during the preceding month, Lehne added.
Lehne said the safe house concept “is a key resource to protect older youth and provide them a positive alternative to the streets.”
MacDougall and Lehne explained that the safe house would be free of drugs, alcohol, tobacco and sex. It would be fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Ideally, said MacDougall, the safe house would be the first step in reuniting children with their families – solving problems, offering counseling and helping them reconnect.
“If the families can't be helped out, what we'll look for is safe, healthy housing,” he said.
The shelter would offer as many as 10 children and teens between 30 and 45 days of consecutive shelter, with free medical and counseling services offered in order to give the kids a chance to become well. There also would be opportunities for family counseling sessions in an effort to reunite children and parents, with special parenting classes offered as well.
In addition, counselors would help students re-enroll in school and catch up on their studies, they said.
Looking toward the future, the young people would be given training in financial planning, skill building, job planning and legal assistance, said Lehne.
Lehne said a “wrap around” service would include efforts to heal and unify the family. Once the young people leave the shelter, there would be a detailed post shelter transition plan put in place to help them stay safe.
The point, said Lehne, “is to really get the youth back on track.”
MacDougall said they're seeking $450,000 to get started. The group has already begun applying for grants, and has submitted a proposal for funds to the Salvation Army. He said they're also asking for support from the community and from local government, including the City of Clearlake.
Clearlake City Council member Joyce Overton has given the effort her support, said MacDougall, and she's looking for ways the city could donate land or reduce project fees.
Lehne said the shelter will be located in the south county. The reasons, she said, are because it's the county's largest population center and, as a result, has the highest concentration of at-risk youth and the highest child and family poverty rates in county. It's also where LCCAA is based, she added.
How to help
As for a location. MacDougall said they're seeking a donation of land where the shelter could be built or an existing home – preferably with at least five to six bedrooms.
People are on board, said MacDougall. “We just need the community's support and some financial backing.”
Lehne estimated it will take a year to plan the safe house, an effort which she said the community can help.
MacDougall added, “We would like to see it within between a year and two years, certainly.”
The group also is looking ahead, said MacDougall, and making plans on how the shelter can be maintained into the future. “This is not a small project and we need to make sure we have a sustainability plan for it,” he said.
MacDougall and Lehne said they're also seeking donations from the public. Tax-deductible donations can be made to LCCAA, which is a nonprofit.
Community members can send donations in a few ways: they can stop by any of the county's WestAmerica bank branches and make a donation to the LCCAA Youth Building Fund. MacDougall said checks to the fund also may be mailed to Carle High School, P.O. Box 309, Lower Lake, CA 95451.
For more information about how you can help, contact Lehne, 995-2920, Extension 101.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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