The Boys and Girls of Missouri might sound familiar to you. In
2009, Great Circle was formed by the merger of Edgewood Children’s Center with
Boys & Girls Town of Missouri. The merger brought together nearly 200 years
of youth social services programming and formed one of the largest children’s
behavioral health organizations in Missouri. Great Circle impacts the lives of
more than 10,000 children and family members each year through its
nationally-accredited treatment, education, prevention and support services to
children with a history of abuse or neglect, children with emotional and
behavioral disorders and children with autism.
The local campus of The Great Circle is made up of eight
acres in central Springfield. It includes six cottage residences for 69
children, a gymnasium, recreation complex, outdoor swimming pool, on-site
classrooms, as well as administrative offices which provide services to
children and families in the community. It is the home of the Ozarks Family
Resource Center emergency shelter.
The Ozarks Family Resource Center is unique to the
Springfield campus because it provides short-term shelter services for
Southwest Missouri children removed from crises and homeless youth. It also offers
parenting skills education classes for families at risk for child abuse and
neglect, domestic unrest or violence. The center provides a warm, safe and
nurturing environment for newborns to 18-year-olds, and emphasizes family
mediation. The facility meets state licensing requirements for emergency child
care. The website has even more about the Great Circle, formally the Boys &
Girls Town of Missouri.
Listen to their Springfield Difference Makers story.
Listen to their Springfield Difference Makers story.
