Helping Children And Families Live Successfully.
Children are referred to the Bartlett Campus for severe emotional or behavioral problems. Some have developmental delays. While on campus, the children live in cottages of 10 to 12 children who have similar problems and are of a similar age. An 8-acre lake offers residents recreational activities and provides a calming natural setting for therapy.
Take a virtual tour of the Bartlett Campus with Program Director Nicole Gebke.
In 2002, Youth Villages opened the Paul W. Barret Jr. School and Activities Center on the campus. A state-of-the-art facility, specifically designed to meet the challenges of educating children with emotional and behavioral problems, the school includes classrooms with observation rooms, counseling rooms, an art center, chapel and library. The complex also includes an exercise room, gymnasium and swimming pool to allow for recreational therapy.
The Bartlett Campus is also home to two intensive residential treatment centers.
The Boys Center opened in 2003 for children in need of specialized treatment in a secure setting. The 44,000 square-foot complex provides a light-filled, open environment with 64 beds in four separate wings. It includes a central nursing station, school, cafeteria and rooms for family and individual counseling.
In 2009, the Girls Center was added to provide seriously troubled girls and teens with intensive supervision and guidance by specially trained counselors and medical professionals. Youth Villages accepts girls from any state for our Intensive Residential Treatment program.
Food With Class is a catering program operated by young people receiving help on the Youth Villages Bartlett Campus. Participation in the program is voluntary and geared toward teaching youth valuable real-world job skills, providing teenagers who are about to graduate with their first chance at gaining hands-on work experience and learning skills for a possible career in the service industry.
"We want for our older teens to gain a greater sense of self-esteem and pride in their abilities," says Ann Tucker, a Bartlett Campus teacher who oversees Food With Class. "At the same time, we teach them solid skills, such as responsibility, work ethics and what it means to protray a professional attitude."
As part of the program, campus youth learn to prepare, present and serve food. Food With Class regularly caters Youth Villages events. The Food With Class menu includes gourmet sandwiches, fruit trays, specialty items, including fried catfish, a variety of salads and dessert.
Volunteers bring joy and new energy to the children receiving help on the Youth Villages Bartlett Campus. Many volunteers come out regularly to spend time with a group of children, organizing weekly or semi-monthly activities for the kids or playing sports with them. Some volunteers teach skills, such as knitting, drawing, jewelry making or photography. Others come to us through the Spiritual Life program and help offer another therapeutic outlet to those children who belong to different faith groups. Most importantly, volunteers bring smiles to the children's faces, allowing them to just enjoy themselves.
Contact Jane Hemphill
(901) 251-4930
jane.hemphill@youthvillages.org
Or see our PDF flyer
