Ft. Myers Painter Learns about

LSF Youth Shelter Work

Donates Services to Help Youth
 

10 April 2008 - TW

When Eric Stillson of Bella Painting in Ft. Myers was contacted by Oasis Youth Shelter to do some painting, he didn't know anything about Oasis.  So he asked.

Staff members explained the work of the Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) youth shelter -- resident services for youth and teen runaways (age10-17), counseling for families and troubled youth, and helping adolescents stay out of the juvenile justice system through programs of prevention and intervention.  (For more on LSF youth shelters click here.)

Stillson not only heard about what Oasis did, "he came and saw what we did," said Patricia Leonard, LSF Director for the Southwest Region.

After seeing it all, the Ft. Myers painter "decided that he had always wanted to do something" to help out youth like this, said Leonard.  "So he donated the paint and his time, and it really is one of the best jobs we have ever had at the shelter."

The painting that Stillson did was the dayroom at Oasis, which serves as a comfortable gathering place for youth and staff.

Oasis Youth Shelter is one of five youth shelters provided by LSF across Florida.  Other locations include Pensacola and Crestview in the Panhandle, and Oakland Park in the Miami-Dade area. 

For more information on youth shelter locations, click here.

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