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When was the Samaritan Center for Young Boys and Families founded?
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In 1968, several men from Stuart, Florida felt a Christian boarding school was needed in our community to assist in the lives of young boys experiencing difficulties in their families. Following the donation of our original 7 acres (we currently have 11 acres), and the building of our first residence, we enrolled the first students in 1971. Since then in excess of 1,000 students, parents, and families have been served by our program.
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What is the Samaritan Center?
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The Samaritan Center is a five-day-a-week Christian boarding school for behaviour challenged young boys ages 6 - 12. The boys are housed in two residences by age - a younger and older house. We intervene in the boys' lives with a structured school and home-life program. Each of our boys are learning to apply character-building principles such as respecting authority, honesty, self-control, kindness and following instructions.
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What do the boys do for pleasure, or recreation?
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We are committed to teach and enrich each of our boys’ lives. Each year differs slightly depending on what the Lord provides. Some of the following have taken place in the past few years: Attending the Y.M.C.A., U.S. Sailing Center, Florida Oceanographic Institute, singing and playing music at local retirement homes, plus various monthly field trips for horseback riding, fun at the beach, the skate park, bike rides, kayaking or hikes in the parks in our vicinity. We also teach some good old-fashioned work-skills.
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What part do the boy's family or guardians play in this program?
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Families are central to the program success. The better they grasp and implement what we teach, the faster and more complete the recovery and progress will be. The responsible adults in each situation are required to attend parenting classes offered by our staff. We are teaching the families on a weekly basis the tools necessary to bring structure, love and discipline back into their families. We establish a Christian worldview framework from which we expound upon the family role and duties in the raising of 'godly offspring'. We do not require families to be believers, but will teach our biblical worldview to all and explain it as the main reason for how we get the co-operation of the boys. Revealed truth and good old common 'horse sense'. Without strong support from the families in adapting to and adopting this program we cannot expect results to be sustained in the boys.
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What is the cost of this program to families?
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Our basic tuition only covers the 5 day/week boarding and a private school education. This small fee is about 10% of the total costs of our annual budget. We have scholarships available for those in financial need. Our policy is that we will not deny admission to any boy or family based solely on their inability to pay.
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Where does your funding come from?
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We do not accept any federal or taxpayer funding. We are privately funded for our existence. Each family pays a small weekly fee for room, board and a private education, which totals approximately 10% of our annual budget. The balance of support comes from individual donations, churches and civic groups, foundations and local businesses. We also host annual fund-raising events.
We actively pray committing our needs to the Lord and trust in Him, as the founder and visionary behind this program, to supply all our needs as they arise. This actively makes us a faith based ministry. In tough economic times like our nation is currently experiencing, our income is down but operations must go on. We realize our dependence upon the grace of God and supporters to survive.
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