Facilities

Charles Hall Youth Services owns and operates three neighborhood-based homes for foster youth. The homes are located in single-family neighborhoods in the south central, southeast, and north central parts of Bismarck.

All homes have “rec” rooms in their lower levels where children can play pool, watch TV or just socialize. Study space and computer labs are set up in each group home facility. Each home also has a piano and exercise equipment in the lower level. Several youth study piano on weeknights, and others focus on staying fit with regular workouts using free weights & aerobic equipment.

Hall Home, named after the Reverend Dr. Charles Lemon Hall, was built in the 1920s and purchased by the agency in 1965. The original stained glass windows, ornate fireplace, and fieldstone porch welcome the girls who stay there. The historic Hall Home serves nine (9) girls, ages 12-17.

Good Bird Home was purchased in the 1970s to serve boys. The home began as a duplex, but was renovated to accommodate nine boys in a single-family dwelling environment. The home was named in honor of Reverend Good Bird, the very first Native American Fort Berthold resident to become an ordained minister of the Congregational faith. The Good Bird Home has bedrooms and bathrooms on both the east and west ends of the house, with the general living quarters nestled between.

The Good Bird Home also was chosen as a United Way Day of Caring project. United Way volunteers broke up and removed cement from an old driveway in preparation for a new concrete basketball court, courtesy of Atlas, Ideal, and Strata Cement Companies. The volunteers also painted the entire downstairs level of the home, which was no easy task as the home featured “glow-in-the-dark” teal and orange walls! The “facelift” paints were donated by Mustang Hardware, House of Color, and Columbia.

The Good Bird Home received $20,000 in Community Development Block Grant monies recently from the City of Bismarck, which facilitated the replacement of all windows and doors in the home. The window replacement project was long overdue. Following the installation of the new windows and doors, house staff replaced all the privacy blinds and curtains, creating a fresh, new look!

Case Home, named in honor of missionaries Harold and Eva Case, is a rambler built on a corner lot in the 1950s and purchased by the agency as the third home in the 1980s to serve teenage girls. It has three bedrooms, a closet which was renovated to provide sink and mirror space in the adjacent hallway, and a large dining and living room area. The vacant lot next door is perfect for the frequent games of volleyball or badmitten played by the girls all summer long. Recently, a second pit volleyball court was completed during United Way's Day of Caring. The kids love the sports addition!

“In the spring, a spot of ground was tilled by the front door for flowers. The residents opted to plant leafy ferns that come up annually. In the back yard, one lone sunflower seed was planted anonymously. The sunflower was one of our greatest teaching tools as all the residents took turns watering it and nurturing it into maturity. To everyone’s surprise, by the time it met maturity it stood over five feet tall. Its bright smiling yellow face in the morning greeted the youth when they sat down to breakfast and looked out the patio window. Residents and staff alike were in awe of its mighty splendor and the inspiration it seemed to evoke.”


-- A former Case Home House Manager