“They get it; Campagna will be in excellent hands,” said Campagna Academy outgoing Chief Executive Officer Elena Dwyre of the downstate organization that has merged to manage the Northwest Indiana-based agency for at-risk youth.
On Feb. 1, Gibault Children’s Services of Terre Haute began management of Campagna in an historic move that may strengthen the future of the 75-year-old ministry founded by Monsignor Michael Angelo Campagna as Hoosier Boys’ Town.
Gibault has strong leadership and I trust their approach,” said Dwyre, who served as Campagna CEO for 12 years.
Dwyre spoke about the need for a new business model for an agency hit by the pandemic and a rash of new federal mandates that is reshaping the model of children’s services into a more clinical approach. In 2001, Campagna was expanded to include a school and gymnasium as it welcomed female youth for the first time as residents. But the facility gradually accommodated fewer residents, with 12 presently living on the Schererville campus.
“There have been a lot of struggles with the way residential treatment facilities are funded across the country, so it’s been challenging. But mental health (care) for children continues to be such a priority,” Dwyre said.
She hopes a continuum of care with trademark “compassion, dignity and love,” for children and teens, who often need intensive treatment, will advance through the years for an organization that has captured the hearts of Region residents for decades.
Dwyre said friends and donors to the Schererville agency may be happy to know that an agreement was reached to keep the Campagna name among its signage and literature, “to represent our history and the work that Monsignor Campagna did for children in Northwest Indiana.”
She said overtures were made to Gibault about their potential management of Campagna because she and board of directors members were familiar with their breadth of care for children and adolescents.
“Personally, this was a position of such great opportunity, but it drove me because of my Catholic faith,” said Dwyre. “When I started looking at Gibault for a possible partnership, I specifically chose them because there were so many parallels with their history and ours. And it was very important to me, as well as our board of directors, that we didn’t lose that focus on mission and our faith.”
As she relocates with her family to a “wonderful opportunity” to work for the Diocese of Tucson’s Catholic Community Services as CEO and holds in her heart the memory of the youth cared for at Campagna, Dwyre said she wishes the best for Campagna knowing the academy will be well cared for.
Founded by the Knights of Columbus in 1921, Gibault has served an estimated 10,000 youth showing a range of issues – oppositional behaviors, substance abuse, abuse recovery – and cares for children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. The non-profit care ministry has grown to occupy a 360-acre campus south of Terre Haute.
According to Gibault board of directors chairman Paul Zielinski, the call to establish a “home for wayward boys” spoke to both a societal need and a request from Catholic bishops.
“The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of Gibault is the history and the legacy of serving children and adults, a huge service to Indiana,” said Zielinski of Pittsboro, Ind. “That’s why the Knights founded Gibault 100 years ago – it was at the request of the bishops. And now it’s evolved into such an organization that it’s really focusing on a host of mental health issues.”
Zielinski, a 41-year Knight and past state deputy (2018-2020) said members of his organization have tried to live up to the moniker “strong right arm of the Church,” given to them by St. John Paul II. In defending the faith, defending human life, the residents of Gibault allow Knights and their supporters to reach out and show respect for all of God’s people.
Gibault CEO Michelle Madley said her organization has always relied on the beneficence of the Knights of Columbus. The bylaws of the non-profit require nine of their board members to be Knights, and normally the chairman is a past Knights state deputy.
“When we were approached about this merger, we looked at Gibault’s history, as well as Campagna’s history and it’s quite similar," Madley said. “We looked at Father Campagna’s initial mission … and Gibault also uses portions of the Hoosier Boys’ Town model.”
Though not a religious organization, Madley said Gibault, from its founding named after Father Pierre Gibault, “a patriot priest of the American Revolution,” to its operation under the Brothers of the Holy Cross, to its present-day approach to therapeutic care for male and female youth, has been a values-driven institution.
"We didn’t want to see Campagna’s mission end; we wanted to make sure that Campagna continued an additional 75 years being able to treat children," Madley said of serving youth closer to their family homes.
St. Thomas More parishioner Craig Hanusin of Munster completed his two-year term as state deputy for the Indiana Knights of Columbus last year. He agrees with Madley’s assessment of the two youth care ministries having matching missions. Calling Gibault a “premier children’s agency,” he said Campagna is now well positioned to grow.
“We're very happy to take on and continue the vision of Campagna Academy, sustain it and hopefully grow the (vision),” said Hanusin.
Regarding the Knight’s “No. 1" charitable endeavor in the state, Gibault, Hanusin recommended Region residents call the youth care center to arrange a tour of the campus and stay engaged as benefactors.
“Gibault is an open campus, it’s beautiful," Hanusin said, recalling his visits to the agency in southwest Indiana. “It’s always a joy to go down there and visit because we know the quality of the facilities and staff.”
For more information about Gibault Children’s Services in Terre Haute, call 812-298-3126, or visit gibault.org. For more information about Campagna Academy, call 219-322-8614, or visit campagnaacademy.org.