St. George drop-in center, home for 'Lost Boys' opens

A home for teens who have been kicked out of or run away from the Fundamentalist LDS Church will open today, but no one will be allowed to live there for at least a few weeks — if not months.

That's because bureaucratic red tape in St. George has stalled efforts to get the drop-in center for the so-called "Lost Boys" properly licensed and zoned.

"It takes too long to do the right thing," said Michelle Benward, who is helping to put together the home. "I'm hopeful they'll make the right decision for these kids and quickly, because we need this."

Benward, the clinical director for the nonprofit social service group New Frontiers for Families, has been trying to get the home opened to shelter the Lost Boys. An anonymous donor bought the house and made it a donation for the teenagers.

The eight-bedroom "house just off Bluff," as it's called, is a former care center for senior citizens. Many of the teenage boys who will now be living there have put in hours of labor to remodel it, so it can serve as a combination drop-in center and sometime-housing. Skilled in construction, they have put in new flooring, new appliances, new fixtures and new paint. Community donations have filled the home with furniture.

"I've been born and raised in a community that requires daily service anyway," said Frankie, a 21-year-old man who was ousted from the FLDS Church three years ago. He asked that his last name not be used.

"It's peace of mind that finally I can be a part of something big. The last few years, I feel like I've been shut down and haven't been a part of anything that's been a blessing to others," he said.

'Lost' children

The boys — and some girls — have been ousted from the FLDS Church for a host of "sins," including wearing the wrong kinds of clothing or refusing to marry. Those who have left on their own say they're tired of the rigid structures of the FLDS faith under leader Warren Jeffs.

Jeffs, 51, recently was convicted of rape as an accomplice, accused of performing a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and her 19-year-old cousin. He faces up to life in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 20.

Advocates estimate there are as many as 1,000 of these Lost Boys in the area who live on the streets, in cars, or crash in crowded apartments with other kids from Short Creek — the communities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz.