Sea Haven seeks helpto furnish new youth shelter

Sea Haven, the nonprofit that has helped Horry County youth for 35 years, is moving its shelter to a new, larger building in Little River and needs more sponsors to furnish rooms.

The shelter for runaway, homeless and other struggling youth (ages 13 through 17) will move from 3892 Highway 9 to a new building on Highway 57. Wendy Gore, development director for Sea Haven, Inc., says the most pressing needs are for living room and dining room furniture and furnishings such as window treatments.

The “Adopt-A-Room” project has furnished four bedrooms and bathrooms in the new building. The current shelter has nine beds; the new facility will open with 12 beds. The new residential-style shelter eventually will have eight bedrooms, two beds per room, eight bathrooms, dining room, living room and computer game room. Sponsors for the four bedrooms are Ocean Drive Presbyterian Church, Pinnacle Real Estate Academy, North Myrtle Beach; Pokenottes Group, Longs; Women of Waterbrook Community Church, Longs.

The greatest needs are for tables, chairs, lamps, for the living room and dining room. “I’d love to have someone step up for the whole room,” Gore says, but she and other Sea Haven folks will be pleased to have donations of specific items, including chairs for lounging, end tables, runs, lamps and decorative items.

The Sea Haven property on Highway 9 was purchased for expansion by what is now McLeod Seacoast, when the medical center was part of Loris Community Hospital. The center adjoins the Sea Haven property. Sea Haven was incorporated in 1980 and at first was a home for girls in what is now the location of the North Strand Housing Shelter. Later, in 1989, the property on Highway 9 was a home for boys.

The emergency shelter is one of four Sea Haven programs. The Transitional Living Program and Project Lighthouse are in Myrtle Beach, at 305-C Highway 15. The Transitional Living Program provides life skills instruction and assistance for youth age 16 through 21. Project Lighthouse offers emergency food, clother and laundry facilities for homeless young people.

Sea Haven also has Project Safe Place, which has 102 sites in Horry County, such as firehouses, libraries and businesses where youth can “get help fast.” Project Safe Place is part of a national youth outreach. Sea Haven’s executive director, Christina B. Jackson, leads a staff of 21, including 11 salaried and hourly youth care workers.

The total Sea Haven annual operating budget is approximately $800,000. Sea Haven receives grants, including money from the federal Youth Services Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A major fundraiser is a dinner at the Surf Golf & Beach Club; the 21st annual event is coming up this month. “Our board does this,” Gore says. Dean DeMattio of North Myrtle Myrtle Beach is president of the board. Gore notes that $150 tickets have sold more quickly this year.

A new fundraiser set for Nov. 9 is a pro/am golf tournament at the Surf Golf & Beach Club in North Myrtle Beach. Sea Hav en supporter Charlie Webster is organizing the tournament in conjunction with the Sunbelt Senior Professional Gold Tour. A variety of sponsorships are available.

The “Adopt-A-Room” project for the new shelter, the added pro/am golf tournament and the swift sell of tickets to the annual dinner are examples of widespread support. “The community has always been good to us,” Gore says. “God opens doors for us all the time.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 6:18 PM with the headline "Sea Haven seeks helpto furnish new youth shelter."