Fulton woman gives back to organization that gave to her

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. — Deep in the heart of Mandy Blankenship is an abiding love for Missouri Girls Town and the people there who became her family.

“There are miracles going on here in Callaway County,” said this Fulton transplant. “They’re doing this daily here.”

Blankenship was a lonely 13-year-old girl when her social worker drove her to Girls Town from the St. Louis area. Her start in life had been anything but easy.

“I came into foster care because I was in an unsafe situation with my mother,” she said.

Blankenship added there was a father listed on her birth certificate, but he wasn’t in the picture.

When she was 11 and her brother was 12, both children had gone into foster care — but soon they lived in separate households.

“It was a rough, traumatic time,” Blankenship said. “There were lots of bad things that had happened in my home.”

Abused and neglected as a child, she said two years in foster care did little to ease her pain and confusion.

“I needed help,” Blankenship said. “My social worker actually ended up taking me to Girls Town, here in Callaway County. I found the help that I needed.”

Years have gone by, but Blankenship, now 26, still remembers the drive down Interstate 70 from Franklin County. Before that day, she hadn’t been to Girls Town and she recalled being worried about the reception she would find there.

“I was nervous and scared. I had no idea what to expect,” she said. “I was 13. I was not used to being around so many girls of my age. I didn’t know if I would be bullied or if I would fit in.”

But soon, Blankenship said she felt blessed.

“When I saw (Girls Town), my perception of everything changed,” she added. “I was greeted with friendly faces who were supportive.”

She attended an introductory session, then went to her new “house,” one of the residential dormitories she would call home for the next seven years.

“I was more curious than a cat,” Blankenship said. “I got my own room, and I cried. The girls were actually welcoming but I felt alone. I guess that’s how you feel when you don’t have a family.”

The loneliness didn’t last, however. Soon, Blankenship made friends, found the support she needed and started school.

“I grew up there,” she said of Missouri Girls Town. “They provided me with anything I needed — support, and encouragement in school activities.”

And, she added, a sense of family.

“The most important part was the inspirational women to help guide me through the process,” Blankenship added. “We were all like a big house of sisters. They were just awesome to grow up with and we all stuck together. The staff — they were there like mother figures, and the girls were like family.”

Kathy Becker, executive director of Missouri Girls Town, said Blankenship is a perfect example of what the organization is all about.

“She is definitely one of our shining stars,” Becker said. “She’s done great with herself; she’s taken what we have given her and run with it.”

Blankenship graduated from North Callaway High School in 2008 with enough money saved to purchase a car. She attended college for awhile, got a job, and three years ago married her husband, James, whom she met at a youth group camp when she was just 16.

She continues to volunteer for Missouri Girls Town, and said she considers herself an advocate for the organization.

But in early January, the phone rang and Blankenship’s life changed again.

Sisters, then brothers

“The (Girls Town) human resources director gave me a call one day and said, ‘Someone called about you,’” Blankenship said. “I didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing.”

The caller had mentioned a sister about whom Blankenship knew nothing. She called a phone number left with the HR director, and Blankenship’s sister, Dawn Mooney, answered.

“She ended up saying, basically, we have the same father,” Blankenship said.

Mooney told Blankenship that her name had appeared on child support papers from 2002 served on her father. The papers were discovered by an investigator who searched Blankenship’s maiden name on the Internet.

Her name appeared as a volunteer at Missouri Girls Town, Blankenship said.

“To think, it came down to “Googling’ my name and it popped up,” Blankenship said.

On Jan. 23, the sisters met at a restaurant off I-70.

“We hugged. I swear it was for, like, five minutes,” she said.

Blankenship also learned she’s the youngest of her siblings, with three sisters and two brothers.

“It’s crazy to think I grew up in foster care with only one brother,” she said.

Blankenship still has no contact with either of her parents, and agrees with her siblings things are best left this way.

“We’re more happy we found each other,” she said, laughing.

Her future, Blankenship added, remains tied to Missouri Girls Town. She plans to organize a winter coat drive for the girls there this year.

“Girls Town continues to have an impact on my life, even after I left,” she said. “ At first, it was hard to trust. It was hard to feel I would ever belong somewhere. It was a hard time, but with them, it became easy.”

And that’s the goal, Becker said.

“We do pretty good work,” she added. “I’m proud of my staff — they have a heart, and that’s what makes the difference with girls like Mandy.”

And the fact they help dozens of girls at any given time is mind-boggling, Blankenship added.

“They do this on a daily basis,” she said. “I talk to other girls who were there and they say if it wasn’t for Girls Town, they would have been lost.”

Missouri Girls Town

• Located on 22 acres near Kingdom City, Missouri Girls Town was founded in 1953 as a fully licensed and accredited residential treatment facility for girls aged 8 to 21 who have been severely neglected, physically or sexually abused or suffer from behavioral and attachment disorders.

The organization’s mission is to create a loving, stable environment for the care and treatment of each client, giving them the opportunity to begin a fresh start in life.

• The facility includes five residential houses, counseling, on-campus education if necessary, meals and recreation. Eligible clients can work on campus, and off-campus employment is based on individualized plans.

Individual therapy is provided to all clients on a weekly basis, and a full-time nurse and medical assistant also are employed. The program is funded through contributions, government reimbursements, endowments and more.

• For more information, access: MoGirlsTown.org.