St. Jude’s Ranch undergoing face-lift

A small army of volunteers is on a mission to complete by Friday construction of three projects that will house a new program for pregnant and parenting teens at St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City.

That mission has turned into a mad dash of sorts since volunteers began work on the project last week. Their self-imposed deadline is 9:30 a.m.

Volunteer Hugo Flores said he won't allow blood, sweat, tears or naysaying attitudes to blur his focus.

"I said, 'I don't know how we're going to do it, but let's do it,' " he said. "I need to help them. It fills my soul."

The Las Vegas resident and his fellow volunteers are working around the clock to refurbish two community rooms and a dormitory-style facility for the nonprofit organization.

The face-lift is the volunteer- and donation-driven marriage of causes launched by St. Jude's and a local chapter of ChoiceCenter Worldwide, a leadership training program.

Aug. 8 is as much a due date as it is a deadline for the project, St. Jude's spokeswoman Jennifer Becker said.

When the final assignment is completed, as many as 12 young mothers will be able to move in and participate in a newly established on-site parenting program. Becker said the facility will open its doors to pregnant girls who can be as young as 10 years old as well as young women who already have children.

St. Jude's Ranch for Children rescues abused, abandoned or neglected children and provides on-site housing and treatment. Becker said about 30 children live at the Boulder City campus.

Project co-manager Priscilla Scott got involved in the challenge through the leadership program and said the cause hits close to home.

"I was the child of a teenage mom," she said, twirling a roll of blue painters tape on her arm. "She had nowhere to run, but she just needed someone to give her that oomph."

St. Jude's Ranch will welcome women recommended by the Nevada Division of Child and Family Services and provide them housing, parenting assistance and job training for an undetermined length of time.

They will be housed in the dormitory-style building with their babies and a 24-hour employee to provide them around-the-clock help. Crews are working to install new flooring and air conditioning as well as updating the 40-year-old building to make it more "family-friendly."

In addition to the housing facility, volunteers gutted a community room and gym and added new drywall, paint and flooring. They also cleaned and updated the exercise equipment and kitchen in those rooms, which are used by the whole ranch.

Scott said that like any fledgling volunteer effort, there are as many breakthroughs as there are brick walls. Local businesses have donated everything from couches to floor-to-ceiling mirrors for the refurbished gym. Additional labor for specific tasks volunteers couldn't tackle was also donated.

And they've raised only about a fourth of the estimated half a million dollars they need to earn before the deadline, project co-manager Geoff Myers.

"What surprises me is how feasible it is, we will raise the money," he said. "We've had some setbacks, but the bottom line is we will get this done."

Myers said donated items and volunteers, many of whom are friends and family of ChoiceCenter members, have cut costs and kept spirits high.

Flores, who has worked 10 hours some days on the project and taken off work, said the unifying goal propels him.

"What gets my attention is how the group works together," he said. "We all have jobs and lives at home, but we are here. That inspires me."

Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.