Okaloosa Academy and Psychiatric Solutions Celebrate Global Youth Service Day with Dedication to Fisher House

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. – (June 4, 2010) – After forming a partnership in December 2009 under Project IMPACT, Okaloosa Youth Academy (OYA) and AmeriCorps celebrated Global Youth Service Day 2010 on April 27 by presenting four custom-made picnic tables to the Fisher House of the Emerald Coast.

The OYA carpentry program built the custom picnic tables for the Fisher House, an equivalent of the Ronald McDonald House but used exclusively by military families and their dependents. Fisher House is being constructed on Eglin Air Force Base adjacent to the military hospital and will provide a “home away from home” for military families during treatment for serious illness or physical/occupational therapy.

The project group met twice during March and April to build the tables. Participants included nine OYA youth members; Director of AmeriCorps at Northwest Florida State College Laurie Von Kaenel; AmeriCorps volunteer Lisa; Okaloosa County School District teacher James Brown; and Carol Bowen, Disability Program Navigator and High School High Tech Program Coordinator for the Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, Inc.

Seven youth project participants, along with Brown and OYA Director Mikel Currie, delivered the tables to the Fisher House. Each dedicated table showcases a placard reading, “Built by Okaloosa Youth Academy Students for Project Impact/Global Youth Service Day 2010 – Youth Changing the World.”

Present at the dedication ceremony included four Fisher House Board Members, Fisher House Executive Director Julie Thompson, Von Kaenel, Workforce Development Board of Okaloosa and Walton Counties Project Manager Will Miles, and several other AmeriCorps and Workforce Development volunteers.

Following the ceremony, AmeriCorps and Workforce Development provided the OYA youth group and staff with a picnic on the grounds of the United States Air Force Armament Museum and a guided tour of the museum.

About Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. (PSI)

Psychiatric Solutions, Inc. offers an extensive continuum of behavioral health programs to critically ill children, adolescents and adults and is the largest operator of owned or leased freestanding psychiatric inpatient facilities with more than 11,000 beds in 32 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. PSI also manages freestanding psychiatric inpatient facilities for government agencies and psychiatric inpatient units within medical/surgical hospitals owned by others. For more information, please visit www.psychiatricsolutionsmedia.com

Andrea Lindsley
(o) 615-780-3315
(c) 615-415-8886
andreal@psychiatricsolutionsmedia.com

Ronald Roberts
(o) 615-780-3388
(c) 615-330-8568
ronaldr@psychiatricsolutionsmedia.com

209 7th Ave. North
Nashville, TN 37219

This release was published on openPR.