Spring 2011
Vol. 5 – No. 1
Celebrating You!
Youth In Need
Welcomes Its Newest
Safe Place Sites!
Annie’s Place
Lake St. Louis Fire Protection District
Maryland Heights Parks & Recreation
Midwest Agency
North Central Community Health Center
QuikTrip #673
The SPOT Youth Center
Walgreens (98 locations!)
White Auto Body (Florissant and O’Fallon)
THANK
YOU
FOR OPENING
THE DOOR...
...FOR
CHILDREN AND TEENS
TO GET HELP.
Your support is invaluable. Your help
ensures that young people become
healthy, productive adults.
Because of you, thousands of kids find the
courage to use Safe Place as their first
step to help.
Thank you for
your commitment to keeping
children and teens safe!
If you know of
a youth-friendly local business
interested in participating in
Project Safe Place,
please contact Youth In Need.
Contact Information
Karen Sieve, Safe Place Manager
Youth In Need
1815 Boone’s Lick Road
St. Charles, MO 63301
636-757-9345
24-Hour Help Line: 636-946-3771
[email protected]
Girlfriends For Good Trivia Night to
Benefit Youth In Need
Sponsor a table, invite your
friends and colleagues and
put on your thinking caps!
Girlfriends For Good is
sponsoring a trivia night to
benefit Youth In Need on Friday, April 29, 2011,
at the Machinist’s Hall, located at
12365 St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton.
 Cost: $250 per table
(maximum of 10 players per table)
 Doors open at 6 p.m. Trivia begins at 7 p.m.
 Beer and soda provided.
For more information, visit www.youthinneed.org,
or call 636-757-9347 to register your team!
You can now follow Youth In Need on
Facebook. It’s easy!
If you are not already a registered user,
set up a free account at facebook.com.
Then, search the Facebook site for
“Youth In Need” and select “Like” to
stay up-to-date on all the great things
happening at Youth In Need.
The journey of a thousand miles begins
— lao tzu
with a single step.
Small Items Make a Big Difference
Children and teens served by Youth In Need’s programs need support throughout the
year. Adopt Youth In Need at your Safe Place site for one month and collect small items that
make a big difference in the lives of homeless children and teens.
Here are some of our greatest needs:
● Bottled water and pop-top canned food
● Personal hygiene items (deodorant, body wash, shampoo)
● New blankets and warm clothing
● New undergarments (undershirts, socks, underwear)
● Paper towels and toilet paper
Contact Lucy Bordewick at [email protected] or
636-757-9334 to help plan your collection!
Help Us Spread the Word About Safe Place
Children and teens will take advantage of Safe Place if they know they have access to immediate
help within their own community!
Presentations may include:
 Discussion about the dangers of running away, the importance of making good decisions,
developing a safety plan, how Safe Place can help in a crisis situation, plus many other topics
of interest
 Age-appropriate activities
 Informational handouts and community resource information
Presentation topics are tailored to suit the audience and time allowed.
If you are aware of any summer camps, programs or groups where a presentation would be
ideal, please contact Karen Sieve at 636-757-9345.
Location Location Location
In October, Youth In Need announced exciting programmatic changes for Safe Place locations in St. Louis
County, which enhances accessibility to services for children, teens and families in the St. Louis metro
region.
As reported, Youth In Need is partnering with Behavioral Health Response (BHR) to offer youth and
families a free, 24-hour crisis helpline (St. Louis County Youth Connection Helpline). The St. Louis County
Youth Connection Helpline is available to any St. Louis County resident seeking immediate mental health
crisis assistance for a child. Young residents receive immediate assessments and referrals to newly funded
mental health and behavioral services.
So, what does this mean for you as a Safe Place location? If you are a location in St. Louis City or
St. Charles County, nothing changes. Your procedures for handling a Safe Place situation remains
the same by calling 636-946-3771. However, if your Safe Place site is located in St. Louis County, you
now will call the St. Louis County Youth Connection Helpline at 314-628-2929 to report your Safe
Place visit. What happens after your call will remain the same: A counselor will assess the situation
and offer counseling, support, a place to stay, transportation or other resources.
Based on your geographic location, please follow the procedure guidelines below.
Procedure Guidelines
What To Do When A Child Needs Safe Place Help
Step 1: Get a general idea of what is wrong. Ask if the child or teen came in to your location because it is a
“Safe Place.”
Step 2: Do not try to go into detail about the problem. Be supportive and tell the youth that you are going to
call the Safe Place agency. Give the child a comfortable place to sit and wait until a staff member
arrives.
Step 3:
In St. Charles County or St. Louis City, call Youth In Need’s 24-Hour Help Line at
636-946-3771, and tell the person answering the phone you are calling from a “Safe
Place site.”
In St. Louis County, call the St. Louis County Youth Connection Helpline at
314-628-2929, and tell the person answering the phone you are calling from a “Safe
Place site.”
Identify yourself and your location, giving the address and phone number. Give the youth’s
name (if you have it) and physical description. The Safe Place agency staff will call you back
and tell you the name of the staff member who will come to meet with the youth.
Step 4: Tell the youth that someone will be there shortly.
Step 5: Check in on the child every few minutes and show support without getting into the specifics of the
situation.
Step 6: Make sure the youth waits inside the building in the designated area.
Step 7: When the Safe Place representative arrives, ask to see identification.
Step 8: After the young person has been escorted from your Safe Place site, record the staff member’s
name you spoke with, your name and the date and time of the incident.
Making A Difference
Welcome, Walgreens!
Spotlight on QuikTrip
Youth In Need’s Safe Place program has
expanded to include the addition of 98
Walgreens stores to its roster of youth friendly
businesses currently operating as Safe Place
locations. Since the stores came on board in
November, they have helped six youth at
multiple locations.
Walgreens joins 75 QuikTrip stores, 110
firehouses and 150 other small businesses in
the St. Louis region. The new locations bring
Youth In Need’s Safe Place businesses total
to more than 440, making Youth In Need the
leading Safe Place provider in the country.
QuikTrip is a national
corporate sponsor of Safe
Place and has 75 sites in
the St. Louis metro region
where youth can get
immediate help. Recently,
QuikTrip opened its
newest store, located at
2260 First Capitol in
St. Charles. Through its involvement, QuikTrip
demonstrates its commitment to helping
communities where they do business. Please
stop by a QuikTrip near you and say thank
you for supporting youth in crisis!
Dan Byrnes, Walgreens employee in University City, used the Safe
Place Procedures posted in his store to help a teen who was having
problems at home and in school.
QuikTrip employees wear their Safe Place bracelets to raise
awareness during National Safe Place Week.
Safe Places Help at the Holidays
In a time when the downturn economy affects everyone, we are especially grateful for the support of our
Safe Place partners during the holiday season. Four Safe Place businesses and community organizations
“adopted” Youth In Need in 2010 and made a tremendous impact! A special thanks to the following:
Central County Fire Department collected truckloads of toys, games, books, gift cards and car seats
from the community.
Corporate Parkway Branch Library gave new coats, games, toiletries, school supplies and other gifts.
Deer Run Branch Library donated toys, games and warm clothing.
Fairmount Baptist Church provided gifts for four foster children.