Long-awaited expansion of West Lafayette facility underway
Story and Photos By Ben Cox
Midwest Youth Services programming has grown exponentially over the last five years. The agency’s service territory was expanded a little over a year ago.
The Porch Light Project, created to shelter endangered youth opened at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, providing support to more than a dozen youth at any given time. Offices are cramped. Things are in storage. The need for more space is evident to provide crucial services to area youth.
“We started talking about this project, I believe in the fall of 2020,” Midwest Youth Services Executive Director Ann Baker says, “So we’re going on five years of dreaming of it to actually seeing dirt being moved. Fundraising has been an ongoing effort since then because it’s just a very expensive project. So we are about a third of the way to our cost. We’ve just run out of time and the program continues to grow.”
Baker says that the longer the project waited to get started, the higher the costs have risen resulting in a loan to cover the costs. She says on top of that the costs of everything else for programming at MYS has also continued to rise as the needs of children continue to grow.
“Currently through the Porch Light Project, we have the ability to expand two more shelter beds downstairs, but the room is being used for storage because we have no more storage space,” Baker continues, “In building this new addition, it provides more office space, which frees up shelter space to be able to expand shelter beds. So by doing this, we will be able to have more counseling space, shelter, bed space and program space that will build about the capacity to add seven additional positions to the agency.”
Baker says that MYS’ executive board explored alternatives to building the addition, but came to the conclusion it was the most cost-efficient plan. “Every day we are crunching numbers,” Baker explains, “We started with an initial estimate of a half million dollars and it has well surpassed that number. We looked at other spaces. I mean, there’s plenty of buildings that are available and they would work aside from the shelter. If we took shelter operations somewhere else, it’s like the sprinkler system alone is a hundred thousand dollars and then, getting it coded for the fire marshal and DCFS and licensed. It just wasn’t something that we were going to be able to do. I mean, you’re essentially stopping operations until all of that compliance happens.”
Joyner Construction, of Springfield, started work on the project during the week of August 20. Dirt for the foundation was moved and scooped out and the remaining ground has been prepped to start building the addition to the current building at 2001 West Lafayette Ave.
The addition will sit to the west of the current structure. Timothy B. Smith of Evan Lloyd Associates, Inc. in Springfield is the lead architect. Smith says the addition will add 2,600 square feet. The addition will house six offices, a conference room, a work room, a couple of restrooms and a two-car garage.
The garage will be accessible from Westwinds Drive to the west, along with an additional five parking spaces added to the current available parking lot. Smith says some of the new structure may look a bit different, depending upon the budget of the project, “The building will be the same height as the existing building with a similar roof line, so it ties in. There’s some angled brick features to play off of the existing building. The windows will be similar to the existing building. We will be adding cultured stone and siding in a lighter color range, and it was not about to match the existing colorway completely. We are doing some changes there and we are exploring the idea of painting or staining the existing brick if budget allows.”
The MYS executive board, MYS staff, Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard, members of State Representative Kyle Moore’s office, State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer, City of Jacksonville Treasurer Beth Hopkins, Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson, members of the Jacksonville and South Jacksonville police departments, Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lisa Musch and Jacksonville Ward 3 Alderman Joe Lockman were all in attendance for an official groundbreaking ceremony on the afternoon of August 26.
Baker says the project has been estimated to be done sometime in March 2026, “We’re told it’s a six-month project, so the foundation is getting poured in a matter of days. From there, the goal is to get the structure closed in by the first frost so they can work on the inside during the winter. By spring, hopefully we will be able to occupy it.”
Baker says with the new addition comes excitement and fear due to the increase in size and operation costs. “It’s a huge undertaking. It’s going to increase utilities and increase all the things at a time where it’s already hard to make do. So we’re trying to be realistic and [have] cost savings where we can.”
In the end, Baker says it’s a worthwhile endeavor to provide youth in the surrounding community a soft place to fall when things go bad. For more information about Midwest Youth Services or to donate directly to their work, visit mys-kids.org.
Midwest Youth Services serves at-risk, runaway and homeless youth, ages 9-18. The agency’s mission is to deter youth from the juvenile justice and child welfare systems while strengthening families. Services are free and confidential. MYS is the only agency providing these services in Adams, Brown, Cass, Hancock, Pike, Schuyler, Scott and Morgan counties.
