Editor’s note: This is one in a series of articles about local agencies that receive funding from Bryan County United Way

DURANT — Youth Services of Bryan County has been providing shelter and counseling to young people in southeastern Oklahoma since 1971.

YSBC is one of 14 local agencies that receive funding from Bryan County United Way. United Way kicked off its fundraising drive earlier this year and seeks to raise $150,000 in 2010.

Dedicated to meeting the needs of youth and families in southeastern Oklahoma, YSBC services are provided at no cost to children and their families who are experiencing problems in the family, school, with others or who want to avoid potential conflicts in these areas. YSBC staff may receive referrals from any source, including schools, social agencies, churches, police, parents, health clinics or the youth themselves.

YSBC is governed by a local board of directors whose members represent schools, churches, courts, businesses and parents.

Located on Lynnwood Street, YSBC has three full-time and three part-time staff members.

Gerald Nickles has been the executive director for 23 years. April Hamill, the shelter director, has been employed there four years.

The shelter is licensed to hold up to 10 children and last year, held on average five children per day. YSBC provides shelter for children who have been placed there by the Department of Human Services, children whose parents were arrested or parental placements — children who are brought to the shelter because they have been fighting with their parents. YSBC also operates the juvenile detention center, a separate, six-bed facility to house juvenile offenders.

“The shelter has always been the basic reason for us to be here,” Nickles said. “It is our core service. The monies we get from the state won’t cover all of our costs, so we depend on United Way.”

YSBC serves all of southeastern Oklahoma and not just Bryan County. The children who stay at the shelter are required to attend school.

According to Nickles, United Way helps fund a six-week summer program for children who don’t have a place to be during the summertime. This program provides educational and recreational activities, plus two meals per day. Last summer, 45 children were enrolled in the program.

Also, United Way support helps provide 25-percent matching funds required for a grant through the District Attorney’s Council that provides counseling and advocacy for crime victims.

United Way funding also helps show that YSBC has the support of the community. Every two years, the agency has to prepare a proposal for the state showing that it has community support.

“That’s one of the best ways to do that, is to show that we get United Way support,” Nickles said.

According to Nickles, YSBC would have to cut services if it did not receive support from United Way.

“If we didn’t have United Way, we would probably lose one grant that is almost $30,000,” Nickles said. “We would probably do away with the summer program and that would be 45 kids who wouldn’t have a place in the summertime.”

YSBC will lose at least $35,000 in state funding this fiscal year due to a budget shortfall, according to Nickles, so the United Way funding is even more crucial.

He said the agency is seeing more children than in the past, and the abuse is worse.

“The problems we are encountering are more serious than they were, certainly more serious than they were 23 years ago,” Nickles said. “The neglect and abuse that we are seeing would shock a lot of people. It just seems like what we would not have believed would have happened 20 years ago is commonplace now. It’s almost reached the point where we are not shocked anymore and that’s pretty sad.”

Abuse and neglect are generational problems, according to Nickles, who said he has now seen three generations of some families. Some of the children who were at YSBC more than 20 years ago now have grandchildren who have received services from the agency.

“It’s a sad line of work sometimes ... but in the end, it’s not such a bad place to be,” Nickles said. “We enjoy what we do, or we wouldn’t be here. Everybody who works here is dedicated.”