Oak Grove in Murrieta provides oasis for troubled, at-risk youth

On a stormy, blustery Tuesday afternoon, smiling hellos and reassuring hugs warmed the otherwise dreary weather at Murrieta-based Oak Grove Center for Education Treatment and The Arts.

Although rain and cold grayed the school’s covered corridors, the facility is a year-round sunny safe haven for nearly 160 kids who have some very dark clouds hanging over their young lives.

Specializing in the arts, Oak Grove is a non-profit residential and education facility serving mostly local at-risk elementary- through high-school-aged kids and their families.

With two campuses (one in Murrieta and one in Perris), the state-funded school works to help students who have a variety of psychological, social, emotional, behavioral, medical and neurological problems. Many have substance abuse issues and come from dysfunctional families. Some have been abused; others just neglected.

“We have 76 kids who live here 24/7. These kids have more serious issues,” said Tammy Wilson, Oak Grove’s CEO. “We have another 80 who are here during the day but then go home at night.”

Visiting one of 15 classrooms Tuesday afternoon, Oak Grove staff works with a small group of special-needs kids who are learning job-training skills. A smiling, dark curly haired girl with almond-shaped brown eyes talks of her work with helping bring food to local senior citizens. She seems confident and happy.

Referring to students like the girl, who have severe disabilities, Wilson said, “These kids aren’t going to have bright college careers, so we provide job training to prepare them for life outside Oak Grove.”

Some Oak Grove students have college potential, however. Wilson recounted the story of one such student who had substance abuse issues and has now moved out into the world, far beyond the small Murrieta campus.

“She graduated from U.C. Berkeley and just got accepted into graduate school,” Wilson said. “Her father called recently and told me, ‘Without Oak Grove, I know she would be dead or in prison.’”

According to Wilson, Oak Grove’s success with students relies heavily on a large contingency of expertly trained personnel who adhere to the philosophy of nurturing relationships rather than a dictatorial approach.

“We are relationship driven,” Wilson said. “The staff here works to build positive, trusting connections with students. We build a sense of community.”

Wilson said the approach has seen about an 80 percent success rate, as qualified by “reunification” with family.

“We have an intensive family therapy program here,” Wilson said. “Our goal is to reunify as much as possible.”

During a recent student poetry reading where parents were invited to hear their kids deliver themes of personal experience such as rape, abuse, rejection and forgiveness, Wilson said her faith in reunification was reaffirmed.

“The poems were incredible,” Wilson said. “I get chills thinking about it. One father said, ‘I came to see my daughter read a poem and I left a transformed man.’”

Many Oak Grove parents look upon the school as a last desperate act for their kids, and it’s not an easy decision.

“It’s gut-wrenching,” Wilson said. “They wonder, ‘Am I going to get my kid back?’ We don’t make promises, but in so many cases it does get better.”

As a small-framed little girl with long dark eyelashes and cornrows tied back into a ponytail hugs Wilson and chats quickly with a toothy grin, the possibilities at Oak Grove seem attainable.

And watching a group of students practice their song and dance routine for Temecula Live!, an upcoming country musical event Jan. 22-23 that benefits Oak Grove, hope is in action. The kids who are part of Oak’s Grove Performance Team work hard to get their steps down for the weekend’s big performance.

“They are so excited about it,” Wilson said.

The kids – different ages, different issues — dance their way through their powerfully loaded song … “When you walk, walk with pride … when you dream, dream big … dream as big as the ocean …”

Toni McAllister is SWRNN’s lifestyles editor. She can be reached at toni.mcallister@yahoo.com.

Tags: Murrieta, Oak Grove Center for Education Treatment and The Arts, SWRNN, Tammy Wilson, Toni McAllister

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Business, Education, Health, Local News, News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.