Our purpose is to empower teens to live safe, independent, violent-free lives.
A fourteen year old girl came to the door of a local agency while two of the House of New Beginnings’ founders were working. Her face was completely swollen to the extent that her facial featureswere not even recognizable. They invited her in and after talking with theyoung girl discovered she had been away from her abusive foster home for twoweeks. She was now staying in a hotel with her older boyfriend, who had filleda pillow case with canned foods and repeatedly hit her over the head with itbecause she spent the last of her money on hygiene products. The teen needed immediatemedical attention but was afraid to go. Our two founders decided to take her tothe emergency room and while waiting with the young girl, their hearts becameheavy as they realized they were going to have to tell another teen indesperate need that she wouldn’t be able to come back to their agency and stay,as well as wonder again what possible opportunity or chance that teen wouldhave at a brighter future, if any.
This teen was not the first to be turned away with nowhereto go. The founders of the House of New Beginnings had already noticed a lackof affordable social services for teens in the Jackson area; the few servicesthat provided counseling for teens required health insurance and therefore excluded low-income teens. Beyond affordable services, there was no shelter for teens to stay when in crisis, leaving them with few options, one of those options being to return to the abusive place they had just left. The founders of the House of New Beginnings could no longer sit by and accept this, from that day on it was decided to take action and proceed with addressing these needs and fill the gap in services for teens within Jackson County, so that no teen would have to return to a violent home or situation and would be able to access counseling, case management,education, support, and life skills building free of charge.
Danielle Johnson, Volunteer
Frances Keane, Program Director Frances has worked in domestic violence social services for 11 years. During that time she saw the suffering of abuse victims' teenage kids. They were often overlooked and forgotten by charities, especially around Christmas time. This never seemed right to Frances and neither did having to turn away teen abuse victims with only a referral to another agency in a different city. Frances wants to provide for teens in need and show them they are not forgotten and that there is a place for them here in Jackson.
Audrey King, Counselor and Administrator Audrey can sympathize with teen victims having had her own life experiences with abuse. She knows what it's like to be hurting with no one listening and she understands how helpless it feels to be a teenager dealing with abuse and pain. She has always wanted to help, but didn't feel like she could do anything. After completing her masters degree in counseling, Audrey is finally equipped to make a difference and help teens who are suffering through difficult life circumstances.
Mike McGuire, President of the Executive Board Mike retired from middle school teaching 10 years ago. After being retired for a while he decided he wanted to do something to make a difference in the Jackson area. He chose to become involved with the House of New Beginnings because he sees the need for an organization like this and he has worked with children his whole life. Mike knows from his experiences with teaching that kids have no power and they need someone else to help, to speak up for them which is what the House of New Beginnings is doing.
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House of New Beginnings 511 S. Jackson St. P.O. Box 1877 Jackson, MI 49204 Phone: (517) 962-5081 Fax: (517) 962-5177 Email: ContactUs@HoNBJackson.com
