Featured | Boys Village Foundation

Louisiana State Police Visit

Cindy — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 21:40:21 +0000

Boys Village was honored to have Dean Levergne, a pilot for Louisiana State Police fly to our campus! He showed the boys around the helicopter and presented to them the duties and requirements of his position. This was definitely one of the coolest things that the boys have experienced. Thank you Todd Hine for making this connection!

The Boys get a first hand look inside this amazing helicopter.

Boys Village Foundation History

Cindy — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 20:18:08 +0000

Boys Village was founded in 1947 by members of the Lake Charles Optimist Club.

Walter Phillips, a man well known in the Lake Charles community in the late 1940’s, joined a newly organized civic group called “The Downtown Optimist Club of Lake Charles”. The club was considering forming a home for locally underprivileged boys. Mr. Phillips played an integral part in making Boys Village a reality.

The original location was Chennault Air Base in Lake Charles. In 1951 the Bel Estate donated buildings that would be disassembled and then reassembled at its new site (located at 7378 Highway 90 East in Lake Charles) where they still stand and are currently being used. This forty acre campus allowed us, over time, to build a wonderful recreational complex including a gymnasium, swimming pool, running track, baseball and football fields, and tennis and volleyball courts for the children. Through the years as the needs of children and society changed so did the services we provided. Mr. Walter Phillips died in 1989; however the Lake Charles Optimist Club continues to support the Village.

Today, the Village has evolved into a treatment program, touching the lives of children who are in critical trouble or have been abused and neglected.

A holistic approach is taken through a team of highly devoted staff and clinicians that each has a unique expertise including psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, direct care staff and more. Combining tenderness of care with effective programs, which equip children with the necessary life tools to become healthy productive individuals, we can effectively take a child through stabilization and reintegration into the community. More than seventy years after our humble beginnings, Boys Village continues to serve more than 100 of our most needy children each year.

Moved to its present location in 1951

Buildings donated by the Bel Estate:
Three small cottages, kitchen, maintenance building, big house and staff living quarters.

1964 Joy Cottage was built
1971 Peace Cottage was built
1982 Swimming Pool was added
1986 On-Campus School Program started with the help of Barbara Bankens
BESE Board Approved
1986 Girl Village was opened (Faith Cottage in Sulphur)
1991 Family Pavilion was built
1994 The new on-campus school was built with the help of PPG Friends.

Campus Renovations:

1993 Optimist Drive – Lake Charles Optimist Club
1994 G.A. McElveen Drive – Wayne and Andy McElveen
1996 James T. Austin Gym – Carl and Vickie Warden (beginning seed money and education)
1993-1996 All cottages remodeled
1997 New Food Distribution Center completed
1998 Hope Cottage was built
2001 Faith Cottage Sold

Former Boys Village Resident Succeeds

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 22:48:20 +0000

Vinh (Nguyen) Alexander, local Lake Charles photographer and commercial artist, lived at Boys Village from 1981-1984. His childhood journey on the way to Boys Village reads like a tragic history lesson. Vinh was born in 1968 near Saigon during the Vietnam War. When he was seven years old, he and his father, brother Johnny, an uncle, aunt and cousins escaped the country in a small fishing boat. His mother stayed behind to try and persuade Vinh’s grandmother to evacuate also, assuring her family that they’d be on a boat behind them, but they never made it. Adrift in the Pacific Ocean in the midst of a typhoon, Vinh and his family were rescued by an American cargo ship. Upon arriving in America, Vinh’s father was diagnosed with tuberculosis. After spending some time in California, the Nguyen family moved to Lake Charles. Five years later, Vinh’s father died of TB. It was at that time that Vinh’s mother attempted to come to America, but she died during the voyage. Vinh and Johnny, now orphans, lived for a while with their aunt and uncle, but this proved to be difficult. They decided that the brothers would live at Boys Village. Later on in high school, a family in Sulphur adopted Vinh and Johnny.

“Living at Boys Village was a changing point in my life,” says Vinh. “My brother and I were there because we needed a better opportunity.” Vinh speaks fondly of his years at Boys Village, remembering the fun and recreation, the positive encouragement, and especially the love and support of his house parents there. “The Christian experience really helped me,” says Vinh. He recalls how his house parent, Jerry Fewell, encouraged him to change his focus from the fear of God to the love of Christ.

Twenty five years later, Vinh enjoys a successful happy life in Lake Charles with his wife Marinetta. He volunteers at his church, The Vineyard, in Moss Bluff, as a praise and worship leader. Vinh works for Freshko Foods and does freelance graphic arts and website design. He’ll always remember the positive impact Boys Village had on his life, and he strives to give back to the community. “Boys Village was there for me, through the roughest times in my life.”

By Angie Kay Dilmore