HUNTINGTON BEACH : Counseling Service for Youths Begins
A counseling service for youths began Saturday, representing the first element in a new program that will continue with the opening of the Huntington Youth Shelter in June.
Three counselors are available to provide assistance from the organization’s outreach offices.
Young people who need help can reach the volunteers by telephoning (714) 847-KIDS. Or they can contact counselors in person in the office on the second story of the downtown police station at 5th Street and Walnut Avenue.
The Youth Shelter will provide lodging and around-the-clock professional care for up to 18 runaway teen-agers and other youths in crisis when it opens next summer.
The shelter will be located in Central Park in a home formerly occupied by a caretaker for Chevron Oil Corp., the onetime owner of the property.
Kanode said she hopes to expand the Saturday outreach sessions to several days a week in coming months.
Kanode also announced that Merritt Weiss has been hired as program director and consultant. Weiss is expected to to help prepare for the shelter’s opening and to help raise money to pay operation costs expected to run about $400,000 a year, Kanode said.
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