Background
When I reflect on these past 10 years, it seems just like yesterday when the ribbon was cut and the house was officially open and there was a 16 year old girl waiting to move in....and all of a sudden the house was practically full with wonderful children, teens coming and going.....I smile when I see some of the faces flash before me....what a blessing they were in Bill's and my life. So many fond memories.....And the community!!!! Oh my gosh!!! Whatever the need to get the house built.....Someone always stepped up and said: "I can do that"....... I'm telling you, in those two years of raising money and then actually building the Shepherd’s Home, it was like standing in the middle of a miracle and watching it happen. I could go on and on.... One thing for sure, God was the Construction Manager and all those involved were his workers..... A home built debt free ten years ago.....Pretty amazing.......”
~Dottie Bayse
The idea for the Shepherd’s Home was born in the home and hearts of Bill and Dottie Basye. The Basyes, working closely with the Department of Health and Welfare, sought a way to overcome the lack of adequate foster care available to children in central Idaho. To provide for the many children in crisis who needed a safe and loving home, they created a community initiative which quickly gathered support and momentum. The Shepherd’s Home was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1996 and opened its doors, fully operational, in the spring of 1998. During the brief interim between dream and reality, several donations of local money, time, and professional labor made the building of the Home possible. The local Lutheran church donated an acre of land and several large foundation grants were used to build the Home and hire the Home’s first staff. Community members provided enormous support and established fundraising events to support the new Home. Since that time the Shepherd’s Home has grown into a cherished and highly-regarded regional resource, providing not only a loving home for children in crisis but also providing additional programs for its residents and for community members to support the prevention of child abuse.
Objectives
- Provide a safe and loving home to children who are victims of abuse, neglect or crisis.
- Provide additional programs for our residents to help them adopt healthy habits and be successful (including like skills coaching, academic assistance, outdoor & wilderness activities, and mentoring). We seek to provide not only temporary shelter, but a new road map for life after residence in the home.
- Prevent abuse and neglect by providing support resources to client and community families through our Parenting Partners Program, which provides parenting education, a resource library and crisis shelter care.
Current Situation
The Shepherd’s Home is poised at the beginning of 2008 to face both challenges and opportunities including:- Increasing costs associated with direct care staff members who live in this community, which has experienced a dramatic increase in the cost of living over the last five years.
- Accommodating additional responsibilities associated with our designation as a “Residential Care Facility,” which carries greater responsibility for providing services than a traditional foster home and subsequently allows the home to care for children with higher needs.
- Prior to 2003, the Home was not equipped to cope with children considered high-risk.
- Remaining on the forefront of the community’s consciousness as McCall embraces its evolving role as a tourist destination and continues to welcome new members.
The Shepherd’s Home Board of Directors, the Shepherd’s Home Foundation Board of Directors and the Executive Director are united and committed to the common goal of continuing to provide the care and services that the Home has become known for while simultaneously adapting to the changing needs of the communities and families we serve and aggressively planning for ongoing sustainability.
Increasing Need
- In 2003, Idaho ranked 2nd among all fifty states for the number of substantiated child abuse cases.
- According to Idaho KidsCount data, the rate of child abuse rose from 4.1 per 1000 children (ages 0-17) to 5.1 per 1000.
- As the Valley County community has experienced rapid growth, the demand for Shepherd’s Home services has increased.
- Affordable housing has become limited, as has the pool of qualified labor.
- More families are at-risk, under stress, and in need of assistance.