Saint Francis Community Services (SFCS) announced today that Melanie Miller Garrett, LSCSW, has joined the nonprofit child and family services provider as Director of Clover House, a new, Restorative Residential program for survivors of human trafficking.
“Mel brings extensive experience in social service and child welfare to the position, in both non-profit and private practice.” said Angela Smith, SFCS Director of Mission Engagement. “We are enthusiastic about her joining our team to help advance our mission and the vision for this new program.”
Since early 2015, a Saint Francis multidisciplinary team has been developing a program to serve the unique needs of minor, female survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. The result of that effort is Clover House, a pilot residential program to serve adolescent girls ages 12 and older in need of safe, restorative care. Clover House will provide girls with a healing, home-like environment where they can receive physical, emotional, spiritual, and psychological support, as well as education and life skills training to help prepare them for a future of possibility and hope.
In December, Saint Francis purchased a temporary site in Saline County to house up to four girls and a residential caregiver. Garrett will lead the program as it develops, while working with the SFCS Development team to raise the capital needed to construct a permanent Clover House, designed to promote health and healing for the girls it serves.
“It is a deep personal privilege to join Saint Francis, an organization I’ve admired over the course of my 21-year career in child welfare,” said Garrett. “I am equally humbled by the opportunity to develop Clover House, the state’s first restorative residential program designed specifically to bring wholeness and well-being to survivors of domestic minor sexual trafficking (DMST). The need for this level of care has been recognized for some time, and I’m excited to use my experience in trauma-informed care, program design, and service to DMST survivors in this way.”