Guiding Harbor column by Jennifer Trotter

Kids enter foster care due to no fault of their own. In most cases, their parents are struggling with addiction, mental illness, poverty, and/or poor choices. The Court makes the decision to remove children, the family then gets referred to a foster care agency, like Guiding Harbor, for support and to ensure the safety of the children while they are in foster care.
Originally known as Girlstown, Guiding Harbor has been supporting children and their families for more than 65 years right here in Belleville. Thanks to the dedicated women of an organization known as GFWC-Michigan, who had a vision for what could be.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) is an international organization dedicated to improving local communities through volunteer services. Through monthly group and annual meetings, women of influential status within their communities could have their feelings heard. They were able to meet with state officials to have a say in community events. Until the right to vote was granted, these women’s clubs were the best outlet for women to be heard and taken seriously.
Female activists used traditional constructs of womanhood, which imagined all women as mothers and homemakers, to justify their entrance into community affairs. They wanted to clean up cities and see after the health and wellbeing of their neighbors. They used what they knew, motherhood and nurturing, to make an impact.
In the early 1950s the women of GFWC-Michigan wanted to “salvage the lives of teenage girls who were at risk of being lost to society.” The vision was for a rehabilitative program not a soulless institution. Rather, teen girls could learn life skills that would lead them towards a path of a productive life. Originally called the “Girlstown Project”, it was modeled after Boys Town in Nebraska – which at that time was a very renowned treatment facility for boys.
The GFWC visionaries partnered with the University of Michigan, School of Social Work, during development of the project. The clubwomen were determined to raise the necessary funds. Each of the 30,000 members donated $1, they also used other means such as card parties and cookbook sales to raise a total of $80,000. That money purchased the lakefront Victorian home located on what was then called Edison Lake, but is now known as Belleville Lake at 330 Liberty St, Belleville. In May 1958 Girlstown Foundation opened. As an homage to the nearby bodies of water, Edison Lake and Huron River, the house was named “Loch Rio” which means Lake River.
For two decades, the Girlstown project at Loch Rio provided specialized care for girls ages 10-14 whose family problems were such that they could not be cared for in existing community facilities. The general intent of the residence was to serve as a means by which girls who were not able to live in their own home, or a foster home, be helped so they could eventually return to traditional community living. This hasn’t changed much in the past 66 years.
In the 1970s and with the effectiveness of the work being done at Loch Rio, a second location on Quirk Road was planned to expand the number of girls served. The proximity to mental health services at Hawthorne Center and the University of Michigan, which were often consulted, made Belleville an ideal location. Meanwhile, Loch Rio was faced with major repairs due to issues in the home not meeting the fire code. The Loch Rio house was sold for $65,000 and the residents moved into the Quirk Road location. Years later, in 1978, a housefire destroyed the home at 330 Liberty.
The Belleville-area community has always shown support for Girlstown. The public school system was, and is extremely cooperative. Our girls were accepted and thrived in the local schools. Community members, civic groups, and service organizations such as the Kiwanis have helped with providing donations, supplies, and even Christmas trees to support the residents.
Over the years, the services offered to children in foster care has expanded. To reflect inclusivity of those we serve, the name was changed to Guiding Harbor in 2012. Around town, people still refer to us as Girlstown.
My name is Jennifer Trotter. I am a social worker and the CEO of Guiding Harbor. When I tell someone from Belleville where I work, they almost always share with me a story of someone they knew from Girlstown, or they remember the Liberty Street house being so beautiful. These stories demonstrate the legacy and lasting impact of lives touched by Guiding Harbor.
Through this monthly series in the Belleville Independent, I hope to highlight the work being done, in your community, to support children and families.