Citizens are helping troubled youngsters find Safe Place

Dan Kulin

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 2:27 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: Jan. 11, 2003

When a 13-year-old boy told Dan Mattila he was hungry and couldn't go home because his parents had kicked him out, Mattila knew just what to do.

Mattila, a district manager for Terrible Herbst, took the boy to McDonald's and told a store clerk to call Safe Place.

Since Jan. 2, 2002, the Safe Place stickers and signs have gone up around Clark County identifying places where children can go when they have no where else to turn. A call to the Safe Place program puts the children in touch with a counselor who can take the youth to a shelter.

The Safe Place logo, a yellow diamond with an outline of a person hugging another, is at more than 400 locations in the county including all Terrible Herbst stores, all Citizens Area Transit buses, and several government and nonprofit groups' buildings.

In the program's first year in Southern Nevada, 46 youths have sought help through the Safe Place, Program Coordinator April Mastroluca said.

During the coming year, Mastroluca said her goal is to tell more people about the program by visiting after-school activities, giving information to area recreation departments and working with the Henderson DARE program.

"It's been going well. Now the challenge is public education. Letting the kids know this is out there," Mastroluca said.

The Safe Place program began in 1983 in Louisville, Ky., in response to many calls for shelter from young people in crisis. Safe Place programs now exist in 41 states.

The goal of the program is to reach children when they first leave their homes, either because they ran away or were kicked out, Mastroluca said.

She said federal statistics show that after three days on the streets a youngster is likely to have either committed a crime or been the victim of a crime.

The Clark County program was started by the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth and is funded with a $60,000 donation from Terrible Herbst, she said.

"The Herbst family looked at this as a way to give back to the community that has given so much to them," company spokesman Chris Kemper said.

So far about 3,500 Terrible Herbst employees have been trained in how to handle youths seeking help, he said.

First, the employee makes sure the youngster isn't still in danger, which could be the case if they were followed into the convenience store. Then employees offer the youth a drink or some food and call the Safe Place hotline, he said.

The training paid off last spring when a teen walked into the Terrible Herbst at 2886 S. Nellis Blvd.

"I happened to be at the sales counter at 4:30 in the morning when he walked in, and he basically said, 'Is there anybody here who can help me?' " Mattila said. "He said his parents had thrown him out and he was hungry."

Mattila, 41, of Las Vegas, told another clerk to call Safe Place while he took the teen to McDonald's for some food.

"He said his parents threw him out because he had a bad report card," Mattila said.

The Safe Place counselor showed up within about 20 minutes, he said.

"The kid went from totally confused and bewildered to 'OK, there is hope,' " Mattila said.

Now Mattila says even if he didn't work at Terrible Herbst he would want to participate in the program.

"It made me feel really good to get him food and help," he said. "Without the Safe Place program he probably would have hooked up with a gang or something ... The program is awesome. It gives kids a way they can get help."

Mattila said that during the past year employees at that Terrible Herbst location have put five youngsters in touch with Safe Place counselors.