ERIK SANZENBACH / L’Observateur / May 24, 2000

LAPLACE – Families in the River Parishes will have a new organization to turn to if they are having problems.

With a snip of a ribbon, the Kingsley House Family Resource Center officially opened its doors Friday afternoon.

Located at 429 W. Airline Highway, the center will offer a wide range ofservices that include family and individual counseling, parent education, a parent support group, transportation, a resource/lending library, counseling and support services for substance abuse and sexual abuse.

Kingsley House has been in existence in New Orleans for 104 years. Startedin 1896 as a settlement house, Kingsley House’s mission was to help all the immigrants coming into New Orleans. It was part of a chain of settlementhouses built all over the country to help immigrants with job placement, learning English and child care. Kingsley House is the oldest survivingsettlement house in the U.S.Today, Kingsley House offers services to any family or individual that needs help, from child care to substance abuse.

Michael Moreau, executive director of Kingsley House, said child care is still one of their biggest duties.

“We take care of people from infancy to old age,” said Moreau. “We take careof over 5,000 people a year ranging from 11 months to 101 years old.”Kingsley House helps out families in over eight parishes. They have had apresence in St. John Parish for over 10 years.”We were called into the parish just after Hurricane Andrew,” said Moreau, “and we were asked to deal with a rash of teen suicides that had occurred after the storm.”Now with the opening of the office on Airline Highway, Kingsley House makes itself a permanent part of the River Parishes. This is the first satelliteoffice for Kingsley House.

The St. John office will be staffed by three Kingsley House employees, AnnVuncannon, resource coordinator and community relations; Kristie Owens- Mitchell, case manager, and JoAnne Bradley, secretary. This staff will be thefacilitators for families and individuals seeking help. Through a collaborativeeffort with other agencies and services, Kingsley House will be able to point people in the right direction when they seek help.

At this time Kingsley House is working with Catholic Charities, Gooden Transportation, the LSU Cooperative Extension and the River Parishes Addictive Disorders Clinic.

Kingsley House will also take referrals from the Office of Community Services and Families in Need of Services in all three of the River Parishes.

St. John Parish President Nickie Monica was instrumental in getting KingsleyHouse established in the parish. Back when he was still a councilman, Monicawas approached by Kingsley House to find them some offices to work out of.

Monica then went to attorney Daniel Becnel and Coroner Christy Montegut, who agreed to lease a suite of offices to the parish. Monica got the councilto agree to pay half the rent for the offices then managed to get St. CharlesParish’s OK to pay the other half of the rent.

Moreau said Kingsley House decided to move to LaPlace because the River Parishes are the fastest growing parishes in the state.

“There are a lot of families starting out here,” said Moreau, ” and a lot of the youth that will need our help.”Moreau said Kingsley House offers several services to the youth of the River Parishes such as a teen center, mentoring, computer training, family life services and child care.

Kingsley House will also work closely with the Louisiana Office of Community Services, which deals with children, foster families and adoption throughout the state.

Joel Mclaine, director of OCS, is enthusiastic about Kingsley House’s expansion.

“They have done a lot of good work,” said Mclain. “We are very pleased withthe way OCS and Kingsley House work together.”For further information, or if you need assistance, call Kingsley House at 651-7367. Office hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Return To News Stories