Sunrise Children’s Services celebrated a remarkable day last week by opening the doors of our brand-new Glen Dale Center in Elizabethtown. Our guests for the ribbon-cutting ceremony – public officials, community members and Sunrise supporters – filled the large gymnasium for the ceremony. Afterward, they surveyed the classrooms where the teenage girls in the program will attend school, enjoyed refreshments in the dining area where they will eat their meals and checked out their living quarters. We decorated the interior with bright colors and motivational messages that we hope will make the girls feel safe and comfortable. Everything is under one roof so that our staff can work more efficiently with the girls.
Program Director Joseph Spinale, who has been overseeing the Glen Dale Center on the original campus that opened in 1915, told the audience that his staff was eagerly anticipating moving into the building. His staff members have become experts in building relationships with child victims of trauma. He pointed out that giving the girls food, clothing and shelter is not enough – that care must be coupled with individualized attention that helps them overcome the pain in their pasts.
Dr. Bill Mackey, president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, also shared his thoughts on the new building before offering a prayer of dedication. Just as no building can contain the presence of God, he said, the Glen Dale Center won’t be able to contain the vast impact of changed lives.
With the opening of the new Glen Dale Center, I feel Sunrise can put a period behind the years-long endeavor to relocate our two oldest campuses in order to provide the best care possible for today’s hurting children. But at the same time, this is just the beginning of great things to come at the Glen Dale Center.
The Glen Dale Center sits on 24 acres in Elizabethtown.
I performed the official ribbon cutting. With me are (left to right) Bill Price, Sunrise's chairman of the board; Karen Richardson, vice president for marketing and advancement; Elizabethtown Mayor David Willmoth; Beverly Hite, Sunrise's vice president for residential and health services; Barry Mitchell, vice president for finance and administration; and our architect, Gary Scott.
We will have room for up to 20 teenage girls.
One of our messages to the girls: live well, laugh often, love much.
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