Boulware Mission is hoping to expand its services and build a transition wing to help acclimate clients back into the community, Executive Director Amy Pride said Wednesday during Owensboro’s Rotary Club meeting.
Currently, their transition “wing” is only a six-bed room.
Their entire facility can hold up to 60 people, and once the wing is established Pride hopes to give clients a chance to better acclimate to the community post-recovery while still living at the center.
“The clients have a little more freedom, they are allowed their cell phones there, they’re allowed to be gone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m — they must be working of course — but they still have chores and they still have to be an attendee to be a part of the Boulware Mission,” Pride said of the transition period.
She said that next year Boulware hopes to dedicate a wing of the building to hold 15 units, a TV room, and a shower room for the clients.
“I cannot say how much this is needed here in the Owensboro community. The guys really need it because they need to feel comfortable. They need to feel safe,” Pride said.
Pride said they also plan to bring the faith-based mission back to their programming.
She said when the pandemic hit, they moved away from the general practice, but now they hope to have a religious group come in five to six times per month. They are already integrating Sunday School groups, allowing various churches to come in and talk to clients.
Along with the faith-based classes, Pride said Boulware is also providing other classes such as financial literacy and other topics.
In the meantime, Pride is working to make people more aware of issues within the community and Boulware’s efforts to alleviate some of those.
