Boys Town Central Florida

Boys Town and Seminole County leaders help cut the ribbon for the latest addition to the Boys Town Continuum of Child and Family Services, an Intervention and Assessment Center for Boys. (pictured l to r) Bob Dallari, Seminole County Commissioner; Father Steven Boes, Boys Town National Executive Director; Laura Richeson, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Board of Trustees Chairwoman; Greg Zbylut, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Executive Director; Lauryn Migenes, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Board of Trustees Secretary; Sara Demetree, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Board of Trustees; Mary Demetree, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Board of Trustees; (back) Ray Bradick Boys Town Florida – Central Region Board of Trustees Chair-Elect.

Boys Town Florida - Central Region Opens Doors to New Services

With the cut of a ribbon, Boys Town Florida Demetree Campus expanded its critical services to children and families, opening a new facility to help children in need.

The new Intervention and Assessment Home opened May 13 to help Boys Town provide aid to boys, ages 10 to 17. The home provides family-style support, where each child learns to make better life choices and reach individual treatment goals.

"A good majority of our kids have experienced abuse, abandonment and neglect," said Greg Zbylut, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Executive Director. "Some kids may have been runaways or truants from school. All those things that can set you down the wrong path."

The Demetree Campus is also home to a shelter for girls, where 16-year-old Sarah started her experience with Boys Town. During the event, she told guests how she has since moved on to Boys Town's Family Treatment Homes, also on the Demetree Campus, where she'll stay until she graduates Oviedo High School. She hopes to then attend college to become a nurse.

Sarah admitted she struggled with "trouble in school and harsh living conditions," and didn't come to Boys Town willingly. But nine months later, Sarah has learned to be self-sufficient, deal with her anger, and has a 3.8 grade point average. She gives all the credit to Boys Town.

Greg Zbylut, Boys Town Florida – Central Region Executive Director, talks about the successes he sees in children receiving help from the Boys Town Continuum of Child and Family Services.

The $2 million project helps further the 10-year growth plan for the Demetree Campus. The second oldest and largest site outside the National Headquarters and Home Campus in Omaha, Neb., Boys Town will bring all Central Florida’s programs in the Continuum of Child and Family Services to the Demetree Campus.

“Going forward, it is our plan to put all programming on one large campus like Home Campus, allowing us to further our Continuum of Child and Family Services in a village setting,” said Zbylut. The Continuum of Services provided by Boys Town allows children and families to access the right care at the right time—what they need when they need it most.

"I think the most important thing to understand about Boys Town is that we are trying to build a linked continuum of care here," said Father Steven Boes, Boys Town National Executive Director, while attending the event. The Continuum of services provided by Boys Town allows children and families to access the right care at the right time – what they need when they need it most. The Continuum of Child and Family Services range from Treatment Family Services and Intervention and Assessment Services to Support Services such as the Boys Town National Hotline.

Since the Boys Town Florida - Central Region site opened in 1986, more than 14,000 Central Florida children and families have received healing and hope through life-changing care at the Demetree Campus in Oviedo.