Safe house

     By Judy DeLoretta
     View staff writer
      Inside Henderson's Regina Hall are 11 bedrooms, a kitchen, study area and living room where girls fight like siblings, come home from school to do their homework and talk about saving money to go shopping for new clothes.
      But something is different about these girls and this place. Those who live in Regina Hall have been in trouble with the law, lived in foster care much of their lives or were abused or neglected.
      Regina Hall's program, available through Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, is a residential facility with food, shelter, clothing and rides to and from school.
      The girls range in age from 10 to 18, and while it's safe to say these girls have seen more than their share of pain, most don't feel like they're needy or should be looked at with sadness. They need a safe place to live and a safe way to transition into womanhood.
      In previous years, once Regina Hall residents turned 18, they were on their own without a place home base to search for jobs or continue their education and launch successful lives.
      "The girls are supposed to leave when they're 18, but we've found they don't have many options," Bernal said. "How many of us were able to totally rely on ourselves at 18 or 19? Many of us went on to college or had to live with roommates, and we remember the days while we tried to be independent but still went home to mom's to do the laundry."
      Two months ago, a new program was developed to allow the girls to move into an annex of Marian Residence, a transitional housing facility previously used only for women age 60 and older.
      Marian Residence is located next door to Regina Hall. It is quickly becoming a place for women of all ages who need transitional housing.
      Marian Residence Transitional Housing for Senior Women and now the Independent Living for Young Women require those who live or stay there are self-sufficient with, at least, their own source of income.
      "The girls always come over here to visit," Marian resident Charlene Prouse said. "It's nice that they get to come over here to live now."
      Some of the girls who live at Regina Hall have parents with HIV, others don't know who their parents are. Some have been physically, sexually and emotionally abused; others have been neglected. And some have spent years in foster homes, while others have spent time in and out of Child Haven, a temporary facility for children awaiting placement. Because they are minors, the names have been changed for this article.
      Elizabeth, 12, wants to stay at Regina Hall as long as possible. Her mother is dying of AIDS and signed off on her custodial rights. She doesn't know her father. For Elizabeth, Regina Hall is a godsend, a safe place and the only place she wants to call home.
      "I've been in foster care since I was 8," Elizabeth said. "I hope I don't have to leave here. I wouldn't have anyplace to go."
      Lisa was physically abused by her father.
      "Me and my brother got tired of being hit," Lisa said. "I told my school principal, they called Social Services and I've been here for five months. After awhile you just feel like you've had enough."
      Angelique lives at Regina Hall because she was sexually abused by her father.
      "When I was 11, I told 911."
      She was placed in Child Haven with her stepmother, and then moved to Regina Hall.
      When Angelique moved in, she didn't want to talk to anyone.
      "I was so bad," Angelique said. "But I get counseling and went to Charter (Hospital) and they started helping me see how I was."
      Angelique is preparing to leave Regina Hall and live with her mother, who has been sober for one year. She doesn't know how it will work out, but wants to try. She now visits with her mother every weekend. In case things don't work out, Angelique hopes Marian Hall is another option for her.
      "A lot of us say we don't like Regina Hall, but we have lots of hugs, laughs and we're always crying, too," Angelique said. "It's the only place we can do this."
      Gloria Bernal, program director and social worker with Regina Hall for more than three years, admits Regina Hall is far from paradise, but the idea is to provide a safe place with food, shelter, clothing, rides to and from school and counseling.
      The idea of Regina Hall began in 1971 in Spokane, Wash., when Sister Ricardo decided to dedicate a place for older girls -- those age 16 to early 20s -- who got into trouble. When the sister came to Las Vegas for a religious conference, she saw there was a need here.
      Catholic Charities bought property in Henderson, relocated the girls from Washington and before long, referrals were coming in from Clark County, the state of Nevada and other social programs.