Despite challenges, center's residents saved

When the new director of a residential substance-abuse treatment center could not get to work Wednesday, she initially had no cause for alarm. Hours later, she feared for everyone's safety.

Latrice Parr has worked for about three months for Kindred House, a recovery facility for women and children run by Gaudenzia Inc. in Westtown Township, and knew residents were in good hands with her staff when the lights went out, she said yesterday.

But when the power did not return after several hours, when the facility's evacuation plan turned out to be inoperable, and when a fire scuttled a rescue mission by the fire company, Parr said, she panicked - briefly and privately.

"These people look to you for leadership, guidance, and comfort," she said. "The last thing I needed to do was cause stress."

Fortunately for her, Chester County has some professional stress-busters, but it took Parr some time to find them.

First, she determined that the facility's emergency plan had never been finalized when she called the church listed as the evacuation site and learned it was hosting another facility. Then, after getting a green light from the Fame Fire Company for help, it got detoured to a fire in West Chester.

Relocation was essential, she said, because the facility's generator did not provide heat, and the temperature was falling. At one point, she envisioned everyone - 15 women; 14 children, including five infants; and three staffers - trying to squeeze into her Exton home. Even if they could fit, she had no way to get them there.

Amid myriad calls to Kindred House and her supervisors, Parr said, she dialed Chester County Emergency Services and found one-stop relief.

Robert J. Kagel, an assistant director for quality, took over, she said, and within minutes the American Red Cross was setting up a shelter at Stetson Middle School, two miles away, and a flotilla of emergency vehicles arrived to transport everyone.

"I cannot say enough positive things about Emergency Services and the Red Cross," Parr said.

Deputy sheriffs staffed the shelter, Parr said; she wasn't sure who provided amenities, such as pizza and bedding, but everyone made the Kindred House residents feel welcome and comfortable, preventing what could have been a treatment setback.

"I'm just so proud of the county I live in," she said.

An added bonus: Kindred House has a new emergency plan - one Parr hopes she never has to implement.