Lifesaving Virginia Beach Youth Organization Launches New Campus Construction and a New Name
Virginia Beach, Virginia (PRWEB) April 08, 2023 -- Seton Youth Shelters, established in Virginia Beach in 1985, with a mission of providing emergency shelter and related services to youth in crisis, is changing its address—and its name. “We are excited to move forward in the next phase of our organization’s history with a name that reflects our evolution from a single girls’ residential shelter in 1985, to our two shelter residences, 24-hour crisis hotline, and outreach, mentoring, and educational programs,” said Jennifer Sieracki, CEO of the organization. “Seton has provided lifesaving—and life changing—services to over 350,000 children and teens to date, always free to youth and their families. During our recent strategic planning process, Seton’s Board and staff voted to reflect the expansion of our programs and services for children and teens over the past four decades from rented and leased properties, to a centralized, wholly-owned campus, in our new name, ‘Seton Youth Services,’” Sieracki continued. “The start of construction on our new campus on April 3, 2023, is also an opportunity for us to introduce our name change.”
The mission of Seton Youth Services (SYS) is to provide a safe haven, counseling and outreach services, 24 hours a day, without charge, to assist youth in crisis throughout Hampton Roads, with the goal of reuniting families. Designated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation in the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1984, Seton was initially established to serve vulnerable runaway and homeless girls living on the streets. A boys’ shelter and a van-based Youth Outreach Program were added in 1999. Shelter services include 24-hour shelter, food, clothing, educational assistance, counseling and case management for youth ages 9 up to 18. The Youth Outreach mobile counseling team travels a 400-square mile area in Hampton Roads, providing comprehensive services for youth living on the streets and in high-risk neighborhoods.
Seton’s Mentoring Program, established in 2006, matches children, ages 4 up to 18, especially those affected by the incarceration of a loved one, with a trained volunteer mentor. Seton Youth Shelters is the only licensed National Safe Place organization in Southeastern Virginia, providing 24-hour crisis intervention services and access to immediate emergency shelter for any youth in crisis, including disconnected, runaway, homeless, trafficked or street youth. As when the organization opened its doors in 1985,
Seton Youth Shelters remains committed to providing all three of its programs—and related services—free to youth served and their families.
Seton’s new name comes with a revised but recognizable logo. “Keeping a resemblance to our past logo is intentional,” Sieracki explained. “We are here because of the community’s trust in us to be a lifesaving resource for our region’s most vulnerable youth. We want our logo to reflect the expansion of our programs and services, while avoiding any confusion about our mission or leadership and operations. We are the same Seton that the community has known and trusted since 1985.”
Dr. Maxine Singleton, President of Seton’s Board of Directors, looks forward to the next phase of Seton’s history of critical community services: “We thank the community and the Seton family for the success Seton Youth Shelters has seen for more than thirty years, and we eagerly anticipate assisting more youth with our new name of Seton Youth Services.”
Phase One of Seton Youth Services new campus construction began on Monday, April 3, 2023, with exterior renovations including a new roof, windows, siding, and foundation repairs to the interim Boy’s House at 3396 Stoneshore Road.
Jennifer Sieracki, Seton Youth Shelters, http://www.setoyouthshelters.org, 1 757.403.2617, [email protected]
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