RINCON — Boys whose lives have been rocked by neglect, abuse or abandonment have a place to go to find stability.
The Treutlen House is a community-based group home that serves estranged boys ages 6-21. It provides a professionally administered continuum of preventative services for the boys and their families in an effort to facilitate successful family preservation, alternative family placement or independent living.
The Treutlen House, 131 Old Augusta Road, Rincon, has been in Effingham County for 18 years.
“Our goal is to provide permanency to the boys we serve,” said Kristen Wert, Treutlen House director. “This is something that can be a struggle for an individual in foster care. Not knowing where you are going to lay your head at night or where your next meal is coming from is a life that is too real to our boys.
“Treutlen House changes this and protects, guides and nurtures all the boys that come to our home.”
There are several ways to support the Treutlen House.
“We are always in the need of donations of paper products, hygiene products, cleaning supplies,” Wert said. “We have a wish list that is ongoing through Amazon (Smiles).”
Volunteers often provide activities for the boys and furnish meals for them.
“We have sponsors for the boys and resource families,” Wert said. “Our community comes together on a daily basis to keep the Treutlen House’s mission going.”
April is a big fundraising month for the Treutlen House.
Through 30 Days of Giving at Goody’s, customers will be allowed to make a donation when the check out. The Treutlen House will receive 100 percent of the donations.
On April 28, the facility will benefit from a poker run.
Other fundraising events are slated in late summer and fall, including the Haunted Forest in conjunction with the New Ebenezer Family Retreat Center.
The Treutlen House is a Family Connection partner, helping it network with other organizations whose goals are to bolster Effingham County families and children.
“At each meeting I learn something new about our community and all the services that are available,” Wert said. “This allows us to come together and support each other, lift each other up. It is a true meaning of ‘it takes a village.’”
For more about the Treutlen House, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TreutlenHouseAtNewEbenezer/.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sixth story in a weekly series about organizations in Effingham County Family Connection, part of a statewide initiative that cultivates public and private collaboration at the local level. Georgia Family Connection is represented in each of the state’s 159 counties, making it the largest network of its kind in the nation. The Effingham County Board of Commissioners is the local affiliate’s fiscal agent.
