Earlier this month, Micaela Leroux Burch, Miss Teen DC United States, joined her school for a Dinner Fellowship at Lazarus House for our Adult Treatment Program. Recently elected to her school’s Service Board, she wanted to gain first hand experience with the programs and populations they’ll be serving. Upon learning more about our mission and the Women with Children Program, Micaela wanted to make our mission her mission.
Micaela is a 16-year-old rising senior at the National Cathedral School for Girls (NCS). Micaela believes strongly in the core values of excellent work, personal courage, personal conscience, and service to others. She is passionate about helping children learn, the earlier the better. Micaela’s academic and career interests dovetail with her service activities. She plans to conduct research and practice in psychopathology and the arts. She is interested in understanding the role that the visual and performing arts play in brain development, cognitive growth, and emotional intelligence. Micaela’s goals include master’s and doctorate degrees.
Because of her passion for early childhood development, the Child Development Center at Clark Inn seemed like a natural fit for her passion. “I appreciate that there is a program for the kids, not just the moms. I also like that it takes them out of harmful situations.” She shared that the treatment over imprisonment is also something she would like to see more of around the country. With Samaritan Inns, she hopes to learn more about how to understand this early phase of life and advocate for them. “I think that the support they have for the children ties into my interests in art and interactions [that] make a great foundation for growth.”
This week, Micaela brought joy to our children as she came, in her crown and sash, to deliver games, puzzles, and books, including her own childhood favorite, Peter Rabbit. These generous gifts are are greatly appreciated, as kids immediately put them to good use.
Nationals for the Miss Teen United States will be taking place the first week in July down in Orlando, Florida. We will certainly be rooting Micaela on from DC and can’t wait to see her, and our Child Development Center, grow together.
For more information on Miss Teen DC United States, please contact Regina Burch at reginaburch@usa.net or visit her on Facebook.
One of the last associations you think of when you think of Spring Break would be addiction recovery education. But for Princeton University’s Breakout Trip,
As an organization that has served DC since 1985, we taught the students about lessons we have learned over the years, as well as the changes in the political and social environment in which we serve. After that orientation, the students got to work, beautifying the yard of Elisha House, one of our Affordable Housing Communities, and making lunch for the clients in our Adult Treatment Program.
One of the best gifts that Christmas time brings is family. A community that loves and cares about us. For our Adult Treatment Program Clients, this time of year can be bittersweet. Although participating in the program provides the gift of recovery, our residents must stay on-site for the entire 28 day treatment period, preventing them from being “home for the holidays.”
This year, Samaritan Inns’ President, Larry Huff, and his wife, along with another couple from their church, prepared a Christmas dinner. Meanwhile, at Clark Inn, Chantal Rogers, a member of The District Church, and her husband prepared a special dinner for the Women and Children Program.
undecided on a major and a career path but knew she wanted to join APO, Georgetown’s co-ed community service fraternity, where she first heard of Samaritan Inns.
It has been a very productive summer so far here at Samaritan Inns and the volunteer projects just keep rolling in! On June 23rdwe were blessed to have First Christian Church Disciples of Christ come and volunteer their time and energy to our organization. The congregation came all the way from Kentucky to perform a beautification project for our Tabitha’s house location where they gave the buildings hallways a new up-to-date look!
