MORGANTOWN, WV – A $5,000 grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Morgantown helped the troubled teenage girls transform the Pressley Ridge Odyssey into a warm and inviting home. A reception and tour will be held at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, August 29 at Pressley Ridge Odyssey located in Morgantown.

Pressley Ridge Odyssey program, a residential treatment facility, is designed to provide a home-like setting where girls can address their behavior problems with the help of therapeutic teacher/counselors and plan for a bright future where they can fulfill their maximum potential. The girls at Odyssey house are between the ages of 13 and 17 and normally stay up to a year.

“This project has made a tremendously positive impact on the girls in managing their behavior in times of crisis,” stated program director, Constance Grant.

An excerpt from a letter prepared by the “Odyssey Girls” to the RMHC grant committee explains it better: “With the help from Ronald McDonald house, we feel that the improvements and our involvement with the grant helped us to feel like we have a family who cares about us! The niceness and peaceful colors within the house helps us to feel relaxed and at ease. Our house looks like a “home” and not a facility where we are placed.”

Pressley Ridge received the maximum amount funded by the Ronald McDonald House of Morgantown. Started in 1996, RMHC provides grants to non-profit organizations whose programs improve the quality of life of all children.

“It was a natural fit with our mission to fund this worthwhile project”, said Jeannie Kuhn, special events coordinator and grants manager of RMHC of Morgantown. “When you think about home, whether it’s short term while you’re waiting for a child to be released from a hospital or you cannot access your home for a year, it’s important that the environment you call ‘home’ feels comfortable.”

The teenagers were responsible for planning, implementing and installing the newly purchased items for the “make-over”. In the process they learned respect, compromise, budgeting, and team work.

For more information about Pressley Ridge Odyssey, please contact Constance Grant at 304.296.0944.