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Daybreak Youth Crisis Center marks 40th year
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
A few short years ago when he was 16, Victor McCrae was kicked out of his mother’s boyfriend’s home and found himself having to sleep in a car with nowhere to go.
“I felt like it was a hole in my heart,” the 18-year-old Boardman man recalled. “I had nobody.”
Today, however, McCrae has a job with a mobile-communications company, a promising future and a baby on the way. And the bridge that allowed him to cross from a dark past to a bright future was Daybreak Youth Crisis Center, he said.
“They made me feel at home in one day,” added McCrae, who was among the estimated 60 mental-health professionals, elected officials, supporters, community leaders and former clients who attended a gathering Thursday afternoon to celebrate the co-ed facility’s 40th anniversary.
McCrae also was among five former Daybreak clients who shared testimonials during the 90-minute event at the Newport branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, 3730 Market St., on the South Side.
Daybreak, which opened in 1976 and is at 2611 Homestead Ave., on the South Side, is a community-based, 10-bed shelter that acts as a safe haven for youngsters age 11 to 18 who are homeless. Many have suffered from abuse and neglect, run away or been expelled from their homes, noted Katina Hetrick, interim program manager.
“We implement services to keep families together,” said Hetrick, adding that Daybreak works with Mahoning County Children Services Board and the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center as well as police, schools and other entities – all in an effort to reunite clients with their families whenever possible.
Another service is free health screenings by volunteer nurses, she continued.
Daybreak has provided to more than 8,000 young people free services that include food, clothing and shelter, short-term counseling, recreational offerings, educational opportunities and referrals to other agencies, all in an effort to return clients home as soon as possible or to the most appropriate long-term setting, according to its website.
In addition, Daybreak provides transportation to schools in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties while trying to ensure the youngsters’ education is not disrupted. Also, schools can make referrals to the agency, explained Edward Bunkley, the residential program manager.
Speaking to attendees was Judge Theresa Dellick of the Mahoning County Juvenile Court, who praised Daybreak’s staff for their passion and commitment toward helping youngsters.
“We depend on you to take fractured lives and help them build their hopes and dreams,” she said. “You treat youth who come there as family, right?”
Judge Dellick and others also honored Jan Baharis, who plans to retire after 27 years with Compass Family & Community Services and Daybreak, for which she received a proclamation from the city of Youngstown.