By Nikki Thomas
Founded in 1983, the Golden Girl Group Home is a West Virginia-based nonprofit group home for girls ages 12-21 in need of help making a successful adjustment in their homes, the foster care system or adult life. Located in Ceredo, WV, the group provides educational, recreational, support and treatment services to its residents while also providing them with food and shelter.
For more than 33 years, Golden Girl Group Home has housed girls who have been sexually abused and neglected or have negative behavioral issues. In June, the Golden Girl Group Home broke ground on its newest project, the Golden Heart Apartments, which will be located just five minutes from the main campus. This is a much needed addition to the group’s original structure.
The new apartments will serve as a resource for young woman who have aged out of the therapeutic foster care system and provide a safety net to prevent the girls from becoming homeless. The group’s main campus has six homes, a cafeteria and a recreational building. The Golden Heart Apartments, a 9,600-square-foot complex located on Chestnut Street in Kenova, will include six one-bedroom and five two-bedroom apartments and will be fully equipped with a state-of-the-art educational center to help the residents with their academic studies. “When the project is done, we won’t have kids going homeless,” says Renee Harrison, executive director of Golden Girls Group Home.
The resource center is being funded by a donation from Cabell Huntington Hospital as part of the hospital’s 60 good deeds celebrating its 60th anniversary. The hospital will also be landscaping the entire property.
“Healing takes place at all levels in our community,” says Kevin Fowler, president and CEO of Cabell Huntington Hospital. “It is our mission to support a lifetime of health care needs, and this organization is providing a much-needed service of healing for these girls. We are honored to aid in their recovery and successful future through educational tools and comfortable surroundings.”
According to Harris, the apartments will serve a variety of people in different situations. The two-bedroom apartments will be reserved for residents who are pregnant, and there will also be rooms reserved for runaways, low-functioning residents and residents who age out of care at 18 who need help preparing for college.
Golden Girl serves every county in the state of West Virginia. Most of the female residents have been removed from their homes by social services. The new apartments will be instrumental in stopping the cycle of abuse, neglect and poverty that many girls face every day throughout the Mountain State.
For example, the new home will be a significant resource to girls like Tammy, a former resident whose story was shared at the groundbreaking ceremony. Tammy was physically and emotionally abused by her mother. After an unsuccessful stint in the foster care system, she was brought to the Golden Girl Group Home. Tammy often says the unconditional love and care she was shown at Golden Girl didn’t just change her life, it saved her life. She now works as a support counselor for the group.
Golden Girl has helped hundreds of West Virginians, giving them a place to live, grow, heal and pursue their dreams, and the new complex will allow these services to expand and continue.
While the construction of the new home has been funded through grants and contributions, the group is still in need of donations to furnish the apartments. To learn how you or your business can be involved with this exciting new project, call (304) 939-5726 or send an email to nthomas@gggh.org.
About the Author
Nikki Thomas is the advancement director of Golden Girl Group Home. She has 20 years of experience in fund development, grant writing and event planning with a specialty in championing for causes that support abused and neglected children and teens. Thomas holds a master’s degree and has earned many accolades in her field.
