Every Tuesday for the next few months, we will be highlighting one of our 20 homes on St. Joseph’s campus.
Here at St. Joseph’s, we provide nationally-accredited home-away-from-homes for Native American children in grades one through twelve.
There are no dorms at St. Joseph’s. Children live in one of our campus homes with two specially-trained houseparents. They live and play together as any family would. The boys and girls learn life skills and enjoy spending time with their ‘St. Joseph’s family’.
Diane and Milton are two of our 3-day houseparent staff. During their 6 days on, 3 days off schedule that is typical for all of our houseparents, they spend 3 days in the Mathias and 3 days in the Stevens homes. This type of schedule allows for both our 6-day and 3-day houseparents to have 3 days off after their 6-day shift.
Our 3-day houseparents play an integral role in both homes they serve! In both the Mathias and Stevens Homes, Diane and Milton serve our 7-8 grade girls. Read below as Diane shares some of the Homes’ favorite recipes!
FAVORITE FOODS
Penne Pasta with chicken, Kielbasa sausags, peas and Alfredo Sauce- “Also, I use the package of Chicken Sauce with Parmesan I get from Walmart – two casserole dishes and half for each one on the Penne after I spread the pasta in the casserole pan – I brown the chicken pieces and sausage in a fry pan with oil and other spices – and then mix it into the penne pasta in the casserole dishes along with one can of drained peas for each casserole dish – bake warm at 275.”- Meatloaf- “I use no ketchup – but do use McCormick Meat Loaf Seasoning Mix with eggs, Italian bread crumbs, milk and beef. They love my garlic bread, I use loaves from Walmart and I make it into garlic bread- slice and butter each piece with garlic salt sprinkled on the pieces – bake at 425 – comes out crispy – girls love it.”
- Banana Strawberry Yogurt Snack- “Banana Strawberry yogurt from Walmart. Mix in cut-up pieces of bananas and strawberries. Add a few oreo cookies for a tasty treat.”
FAVORITE ACTIVITIES
- Movies- The girls like to go to the movies at the local State Theatre and watch scary movies in the home on weekends.
- Outdoors- They enjoy taking walks and playing basketball.
Chamberlain High School football games/extra-curricular activities
FAVORITE MEMORIES
- The Homes’ recent trip to Pierre was a great success- one girl remarked that it was “the best day I’ve ever had!” They started the day enjoying a park along the river, went on a self-guided tour of the capital, walked along the river trail, went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and then returned to Chamberlain for the high school play- Charlie Brown.
ANYTHING ELSE
Kindness Bags- The girls each drew names of other girls in the Home that they were supposed to do something kind for. At the end of the 3-day shift, Diane would have each girl write a note for the person they had drawn and would include a note of her own into a ‘kindness bag’- specially decorated for each girl. Each girl was encouraged to take the bag to her room to see what Diane and her peer had wrote for them. After reading the note, the girls placed the bags back in the hallway to be repeated next time Diane and Milton were in the Home.
We hope you enjoyed learning a little about the Mathias/Stevens Home! Stay tuned for next Tuesday.
