Where Caring Counts
The caring staff at Missouri Girls Town provides a loving, family atmosphere for all the girls living in our community – something many of our clients never experience before coming to Missouri Girls Town. We offer these young ladies the tools to help them grow to adulthood, and teach them life skills that help prepare them to care for themselves and their own families one day.
Our Clients
From the very beginning, Missouri Girls Town has concentrated on providing care and treatment for abused and neglected girls. By staying focused only on girls, we have built a program of parenting and counseling that fits the needs of teenage girls traumatized by abuse and neglect.
When new clients arrive at Missouri Girls Town, they have typically been through nine failed placements which may have included foster care or other residential centers, hospitalization, relatives, and failed adoptions. These adolescent girls are between the ages of eight and twenty-one and are in need of a therapeutic, structured living environment that addresses emotional and behavioral disorders. Our clients are referred through the Missouri Division of Family Services, the Department of Mental Health, or the juvenile courts. Every effort is made to place young women at Missouri Girls Town who will have an excellent chance to succeed in our caring, structured environment.
Our Team
Missouri Girls Town Foundation, Inc. is a public 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1953. Jenny Preiss assumed the role of Executive Director in 2017. Melissa Blumer, LCSW, MSW, is our Program Director, and Associate Executive Director. Missouri Girls Town is a member of the Missouri Coalition of Children’s Agencies. Missouri Girls Town is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA).
Jenny Preiss, M. Ed.
Executive Director
Melissa Blumer, LCSW, MSW
Associate Executive Director,
Program and Clinical Director
Our Clinicians
Melissa Blumer, LCSW, MSW
Associate Executive Director, Program Director
Meg Linear, LCSW
Community and Residential Therapist
Kathy O’Neal, M.Ed., LPC
Community and Residential Therapist
Red O’Neal, TIA
Therapy Dog
Nursing
Cindy Talone, LPN
Nurse
Chasity Kight
Medical Coordinator
Admissions
Shayla Detweiler, BAHS
Admissions Coordinator
Direct Care
Kaitlyn Stith
Hope House Manager
Miranda Deimeke
Hope House Team Lead
Administration
Jenny Preiss, M. Ed.
Executive Director
Christy Smiley
Executive Assistant
Melanie Schuering
Director of Human Resources
Deanna Barger, MPA
Director of Development
Wanda Cowans
Administrative Assistant
Miriam Burch
Accounts Payable
Max McDevitt
Training Coordinator
Larry O’Neal
Grounds Keeper
Judy Salmons
Cook