Austin’s House is a group foster home that will provide services and care for up to ten children at any one time between the ages of birth to 17. The resident children will be referrals from Child Protective Services, the courts, homeless children and other children who are in need of shelter. The center will accommodate both boys and girls who are unable to be maintained in their own homes, until appropriate homes can be located for them, i.e.; foster homes, placement with relatives, or other approved homes, or until they can be returned to their parents.
The House will provide the basic living necessities including proper nutrition, hygiene, rest, nurturing, recreation, companionship and education. It is designed for short-term placements of Douglas County youth in crisis situations. Children from other counties in the State of Nevada will also be accepted as space permits. Austin’s House will provide 24 hour supervised services and care for the residents.
Other child-oriented community services will be provided at Austin’s House and offered to the community at large. These include respite care, supervised visitation and exchange programs, mentoring and literacy programs, child safety classes and child abuse awareness programs, support groups for grandparents and other relatives providing care for children unable to live with their parents, foster parent recruitment and training classes.
The Douglas County Sheriffs Office, Douglas County Social Services, Douglas County Juvenile Probation Office, and Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA) are all advocates of Austin’s House which was formerly known as the Carson Valley Children’s Center. The Austin Kirby Foundation was originated as a memorial to a generous, loving and inspiring young man who met an untimely death at the age of 15. Century 21 Clark Properties and his family recognized the need for the children’s center and made it a site on which to focus their love, energy and resources in Austin’s behalf.
The estimated cost of construction, land acquisition, and site preparation is expected to be about $800,000 with the furnishings and fixtures estimated at another $100,000. Annual operating expenses are expected to be about $600,000. The original Carson Valley Children’s Center group have generated a little over $100,000 through their fund raising events, and the Austin Kirby Foundation has now collected an additional $200,000 plus in cash and pledges. Much labor and material, estimated at over $400,000 has been pledged as well. With the financial commitment on the part of the Austin Kirby Foundation the project is now gaining momentum and is slated for a ground breaking in late Spring of 2006. We are confident that any remaining required funds will become available as the project progresses through the continued donations of cash, material or labor. Both the Carson Valley Children’s Center and the Austin Kirby Foundation are non profit charitable organizations. A Grand Opening is slated for late Spring of 2006.
