BATESVILLE — Impacting the life of a child in need is important. But for one woman, changing the course of destruction and despair in the lives of hundreds of at-risk children for more than 25 years is a divine mission.
Diane Power has worked at the Youth Center, a nonsecured residential outpatient facility for teenagers in Batesville, for 25 years. The Youth Center’s programming provides teens ages 13 to 17 with strict supervision and treatment designed to help them deal with issues they’re having at home, school and in their everyday lives.
Since she was hired in 1986, Power has worked in various positions with the center. She is currently a residential child care worker 2, a supervisor for one of the two teams of employees at the center. But her title or her given name doesn’t really matter to the kids and families she’s cared for and taught for a quarter century.
To all of them and those in the field who know the workshe does, Power is “Granny.” She lives up to the title, her co-workers said.
Valerie Dunn, vice president of youth services for Health Resources of Arkansas, said Power does more with the kids than what her job requires.
“She makes a special effort to provide these kids with a homelike environment they don’t have,” Dunn said. “That means helping find prom dresses or whatever they need.”
Dunn said Power often puts in far more than the 40 hours a week for which she’s paid.
Power, who is 75, functions as a surrogate granny for all of the kids.
“In general, she accepts the kids as they are,” said Brett Farris, Youth Center director. “Sometimes one that gives us the most trouble or makes everyone mad, Granny just goes toward that one.”
Power wants ever yonearound her to feel cared for - from the toughest kids who come through the doors to the people she works with every day.
“It’s not just the kids,” Farris said. “It’s all the staff, too.”
The Youth Center wasn’t Power’s first job working with youth. She managed the horse and dog program for the St. Francis Boys Home in Salina, Kan., in the late 1950s. When she left that program, she moved to California and married a rancher. Father Bob Mize, director of the boys home in Kansas, often called Power while she was building her new life in California, asking her to come back. Power said the home was going to start a girls unit, and Mize said he needed her. Power said no, content to be a wife and mother.
“But,” Granny said, “God works in a very mysterious way.”
When water prices became too expensive to make ranching in California profitable, Power and her family considered moving to Oklahoma, where she had relatives. At the same time, a friend was buying land forspeculation purposes in Cave City and said Power and her family could settle there until they found the perfect place for the family.
That perfect place ended up being two miles down the road, leading Power and her family to settle in the Independence and Sharp county area.
Power and her husband, who were raising four children, set up a dairy on their farm. She also became active in various projects, including 4-H, a passion from which she recently retired.
While Power was working part time at the American Restaurant in Batesville, two employees of the Youth Center, then in Magness, came in and regularly encouraged her to apply for a position at the center. Power said she believed she was led to do so, and she got the job.
“I had a deep feeling God meant for me to do this work,” she said.
Over the years, Power has seen the system change names and alter the rules and regulations that govern the center multiple times. She was withthe center when it moved to Batesville after the original location in Magness burned. What hasn’t changed is Power’s steadfast dedication to improving the lives of the children she works with.
“If we can save a child, one child,” she said, “we’ve done something marvelous. And, we’ve saved several.”
The stories of those Power and the center have helped are inspiring. Children who have left the center often contact Power and tell her how grateful they are. One young woman calls Power at least once a month from California just to talk.
“She just calls and tells me everything,” Power said.
When she was at the center, the young woman carried a picture that she slept with every night. The picture was her horse that had been stolen. Sometime after she went to California, the young woman called Power and said a lawyer in Batesville had been looking for her horse and had found it. She asked Power to help her by taking care of the horse and somehow getting it to her.
Power went to the law office, confirmed that the horse had been stolen and found, and picked up the animal. Her grandson then arranged for the horse to be taken to its owner in California.
Power said that others have shown their appreciation as well. While she was at a pizza restaurant one day in Batesville, a pretty blonde-haired girl came up to her and asked if she worked at the center. When Power said she did, the girl thanked Power for taking her to church while she was there.
Appreciation for Power’s dedication to the Youth Center and the children it serves will also be shown by Health Resources of Arkansas. To honor Power’s dedication to the Youth Center, a reception will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the center, 1355 E. Main St. The reception is open to the public.
As to how many more years “Granny” will be a fixture at the Youth Center, Power doesn’t feel like that is her call.
“This is a God-given job,” she said. “He’ll tell me when to walk.”
Three Rivers, Pages 48 on 10/27/2011