Saint Francis Community Services (SFCS) will mark the opening of its new state-of-the art Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) on Sept. 3, with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5097 W. Cloud Street. Members of the community are invited to the 1:30 p.m. event to view the building and take a guided tour of the facility.
The 40-bed, 28,000-square-foot residential facility will serve as a “healing environment” to nurture the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of children and youth ages 6-18. Designed by the Salina architectural firm Jones Gillam Renz, the new PTRF features up-to-date space and safety designs, private and communal meeting spaces, library, outpatient clinic, medical examination room, and meditation space.
This new facility will enable Saint Francis to offer a safer, more therapeutic environment for the kids we serve,” said PRTF Executive Director Jerry Slaight. “Our goal is to follow our mission of being a ministry of healing to children and youth in spirit, mind, and body, but we also expect it will be one of the best residential treatment facilities in the nation.”
Located on the grounds of SFCS’s Salina West facility, the new building replaces a nearly century-old structure purchased in 1948 by Saint Francis founder the Reverend Robert Mize Jr., to serve as the Saint Francis Boys’ Home.
The Saint Francis Board of Directors concluded several years ago that the original building could no longer support the mission of the ministry in a manner consistent with its model of “Therapy in Christ.” Faced with rising maintenance costs, evolving treatment standards and an expanding population of children in need of therapeutic care, the board established the “Stepping Stones for Tomorrow” capital campaign to raise the estimated $5 million needed for construction.
Saint Francis broke ground on the structure in October 2013, and construction began the following January. Construction was completed this month, in time for staff and youth to begin moving into the building in early September.