Purpose Statement: Providing a safe home, compassionate care, and high-quality mental health services to children and youth who have experienced significant trauma, to restore their childhood and equip them for productive adulthood.
Marygrove, a ministry of Catholic Charities of St. Louis, has a rich history of more than 175 years caring for children, teens and young adults—offering a compassionate, safe and healing environment. The youth who come to Marygrove have endured multiple failed placements at other organizations, cycled through foster homes, or even survived failed adoptions. Many come from abusive, violent, and severely disruptive family situations; and, in a few instances, are discharged from psychiatric hospitals directly to Marygrove. The emotional toll a severely dysfunctional and aberrant family can have on a child cannot be underestimated. Where nurturing, love, and security are necessary for stable psychological and emotional growth, our children have experienced the neglect of primal needs. They have become victims, due to their environments, and have developed profound emotional, detachment and trust issues manifesting as just the tip of what lies below. Most of our youth are diagnosed with behavioral and psychiatric disorders as a result of abuse, neglect, abandonment, and other trauma. Without Marygrove, most of our children would have few, if any, alternatives for housing and face life on the street, in prison, or in an institution.
As one of the largest therapeutic residential treatment programs in Missouri, Marygrove is a new beginning for children, teens, and young adults who call our campus their home. The youth at Marygrove live and grow in a safe, nurturing environment, and have opportunity to heal in a stable, family-like setting. Professional caregivers provide compassion, encouragement, and structure while therapists provide individualized treatment plans and counseling to help each child overcome personal obstacles and establish responsible, attainable goals for the short and long-term future.
Marygrove enriches the lives of over one hundred youth each year, ages birth-21, through a broad continuum of residential and community-based programming and wraparound services, including therapeutic residential treatment and foster care, transitional and independent living, special education and recreational therapy, family counseling, and parenting education. Trauma-informed care is the foundation of all Marygrove treatment. Through this approach, Marygrove helps mitigate adverse childhood experiences while preventing future homelessness and trauma. Using a Positive Youth Development framework, our youth are consistently supported in identifying their strengths and using their skills toward personal growth, development, and success.
As one of the nine family of ministries of Catholic Charities of St. Louis, we are proud to share in their mission, vision, and values.
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- Mission: To bring the healing, help, and hope of Jesus Christ to those in need with a compassionate, caring presence.
- Vision: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis will be a premier leader in community renewal and a visible catalyst for social outreach by connecting with people, parishes, and ministries committed to a meaningful communion of care to those in need across every square mile of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
- Values
- Dignity: We love and serve each person as made in the image of God
- Hospitality: We are to be and see Christ in those we serve
- Service: We always welcome joyfully any opportunity to be in the presence of Christ
- Excellence: We give our very best to people God calls us to encounter
- Compassion: We seek to journey with our sisters and brothers
- Joy: We bring fullness for life and look to bring healing, help, and hope in every encounter
