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YSS of Marshall County celebrates 40 year anniversary

T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY From left to right, YSS of Marshall County Board Member and former employee Pat Kremer, Transitional Housing Coordinator Sam Fox, Board Member (and fellow former employee) Chris Vaughn and Director David Hicks pose for a photo at the organization’s headquarters Friday morning.

The story of Youth and Shelter Services of Marshall County — now better known by its abbreviation, YSS — began with a tragedy.

In 1974, 16-year-old Dean Beurskens ran away from home and was placed in the Marshall County Jail on a Friday night, and instead of taking him to a shelter in Ames, the juvenile court officer assigned to his case declined to do so and left him there until Monday. It was too late, as he hung himself in his cell over the weekend.

The shocking story made the front page of the Des Moines Register, and then-Gov. Robert Ray quickly reached out to YSS Founder George Belitsos to seek a solution. The League of Women Voters worked to get “status offenses” like running away from home decriminalized, and in response to the incident, YSS assisted Marshall County in opening its own emergency youth shelter modeled after the Ames Shelter House program. A new shelter building was constructed and furnished, primarily with community donations, but the program closed after only a few years due to a lack of funds — the building was turned over to Quakerdale and became a group home.

Although it took several years, a site was finally launched in 1983 out of the Masonic Temple building with a staff member, a counselor and a 24-hour hotline. In the words of current YSS of Marshall County Director David Hicks, it just kind of grew from there.

With the loss of the emergency shelter, YSS stepped in during the early 1980s to assist runaways. A federal grant entitled “Runaway Basic Center” was secured for a multi-county rural service including Marshall County. The YSS Basic Center grant continues to this day and services a 23-county area. The Board of Supervisors support that had been designated for the closed shelter was diverted to the YSS Runaway program and continues to this day.

In 1986, Marshall/Hardin Runaway and Youth Service Center (RAYS) with its main office in Marshalltown and a satellite office in Eldora, expanded the Basic Center’s services. RAYS offered a crisis line for farm families facing new economic problems that sometimes spilled over into family life, and it also provided counseling and short-term foster home placement for children of families in crisis.

An in-home family counseling component was added in 1987, followed by a transitional facility and apartments to shelter youth between the ages of 16 and 21 who could not safely live with a relative. Residents were required either to participate in an educational program or to hold a job.

Today, the agency has been through several moves before landing at its current spot — the old police station at 22 N. Center St. — but it has grown to 16 employees and now offers more services than ever before, although Hicks said the name is a bit of a misnomer due to the lack of a dedicated shelter.

The organization’s core mission of helping youth and adults who are struggling with various impediments has remained intact, but it has evolved with the times to meet the needs of the unique communities it serves. As Hicks noted, citing the example of the Beurskens incident that spearheaded the creation of a local branch of YSS, being proactive is always preferable to being reactive.

“If we can develop programs that we know will help people and prevent things from happening, that’s money well spent,” he said. “So we’ve always tried to find needs and fill them, whether it’s transitional living, keeping kids housed (and) working with kids before they age out of foster care so they don’t become homeless.”

Hicks added that any agency can simply chase dollars — YSS receives state and federal funding along with private contributions — but their programs and endeavors have to make sense within the larger context of the organizations. As examples, YSS has partnered with the Marshalltown Police Department to create the Marshalltown Police and Community Team, or MPACT, and Hicks is expected to play a key role in upcoming city council discussions surrounding homelessness.

Sam Fox, who serves as the Transitional Housing Coordinator for YSS of Marshall County, said homelessness is a growing problem even if it may not look the same as the “tent cities” in places like Portland or San Francisco. Locally, Fox works with individuals who are facing homelessness to put them up in an apartment, help with their living expenses and, hopefully, put them on a path to self-sufficiency while they work on their skills. Rapid rehousing, as it is known, has become the norm in recent years.

“That’s where we fit into the homelessness stuff, trying to find the next steps after they’ve been there,” she said.

For the people who have worked for YSS, it’s more than a job. It represents a mission and a commitment to serving others, and Hicks is living proof. A 1989 MHS graduate, he has worked here for over half of his life and spent nearly 20 years as the man in charge.

Another example is two former employees, Pat Kremer and Chris Vaughn, who now sit on the board of directors. Kremer got to know the organization during his time as a principal and eventually the associate superintendent in the Marshalltown Community School District and said he had a “soft spot in his heart” for the organization. After his first retirement, he decided to launch a second career about 15 years ago.

“I was sitting on the deck one day reading the paper and I saw there was an opening and I thought ‘I’m gonna call in and hear about this,'” he said.

Both Vaughn and Kremer worked with transitional housing, but Vaughn specifically focused on young single mothers who were homeless. The experience was an eye opener as she met people who had been through things — at a young age, no less — that she couldn’t imagine in her worst nightmares.

Some ended as success stories, and others fell through the cracks. But she remembers them all.

“I think one of the greatest things I have had people tell me. I run into people at Walmart, and they have come up to me and told me ‘You can’t believe what you helped me with,’ and I don’t even think that I’ve done that much,” Vaughn said. “But you really made a difference, and that just warms my heart.”

Kremer, who said he still gets invited out to lunch by former clients, described YSS as “a place for second chances,” but there are expectations and rules to be followed. And as Hicks added, they might not be able to turn everyone’s life around, but if nothing else, they can provide temporary stability and structure.

Like most other businesses and organizations downtown, YSS was profoundly impacted by the 2018 tornado when their old headquarters on State Street was leveled. Hicks had no idea how to proceed, but City Administrator Jessica Kinser and Police Chief Mike Tupper told him to move into the basement of the then-police station and figure it out as they went.

“They were helping the helpers, so as much as we help other people, it’s a strength to ask for help,” Hicks said. “They brought us in, and we worked hard. So if not for the tornado, we would not have this expansion (and) staff growth.”

Once the MPD moved to its new headquarters, YSS officially settled in at its current space in 2020 after a $130,000 capital campaign and extensive remodeling, and they are now partnering with local photographer Austin Chadderdon to provide him use of the upper level of the building rent free.

“We just like collaboration. I don’t care if it’s with the city or a photographer. We’ll partner,” Hicks said.

With new services like equine and art therapy now developing, YSS will continue to evolve throughout its next 40 years, but the focus will remain on helping people who need help.

In honor of the anniversary, YSS is encouraging donations in the amount of $40. They can be made online at yss.org/donate or in person at the office. All gifts stay in Marshalltown.

——

Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.

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