The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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December 20, 2012

Sequoyah Boys Group Home asks for community Christmas help

By James Neal, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID, Okla. — Sequoyah Boys Group Home in Enid is asking for community help to provide its 16 boys with Christmas presents.

Kayla Enloe, youth life coordinator for the home, said she and other staff members are short on Christmas gifts and essential items for the boys who live at the facility.

Sequoyah Boys Group Home, operated by the non-profit Sequoyah Enterprises at 306 W. Park, cares for 16 boys, all ages 14-17. The home operates under a contract with Oklahoma Department of Human Services.

Enloe said all of the boys are in DHS custody, and most have been removed from their homes.

She said the home is designed to offer a six-month program, caring for the boys until they can return home or move on to a foster home or adoptive family.

“We’ve had some boys who have been in the system since they were babies, so they just get moved around from group home to group home,” Enloe said. “Most of them don’t have anywhere to go, so they end up being here longer than six months.”

Enloe said most of the boys will not return to their biological parents, and will wait in the group home for a foster family.

While living at the group home, most of the boys do not receive Christmas gifts from outside the group home, with the exception of a limited number of gifts purchased by their case workers.

“Quite a few of the boys still have contact with their biological families, but their families usually aren’t in a position to get them gifts either,” Enloe said.

She said when a gift does come in from the community, it has a special significance for the boys.

“The boys usually have a very close working relationship with their case workers, so they’re going to know if a gift is from their case worker,” Enloe said. “When they receive a gift from the community, it shows them that people care about them, and they have support beyond just the staff at Sequoyah.”

The Sequoyah Boys Group Home staff is asking for the following unwrapped items as Christmas gifts for the boys: electronics, CDs, headphones, batteries, notebooks, drawing books, cards, card games, board games, “stocking stuffers” and books.

Gifts for Christmas must be received by Sunday in order to be sorted and wrapped for the boys for Christmas.

In addition to the Christmas gifts, the boys also have ongoing needs in basic items, such as socks, underwear, toothbrushes, hygiene items, pillows and pillow cases.

Enloe said Sequoyah Enterprises cannot accept monetary donations, but can accept gift cards to purchase gifts and essential items for the boys.

For information, call Enloe at (580) 402-1830 or email her at k.enloe@ seqca.com.

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