This is a story about a family that needs a new car. But it isn't an ordinary family, and the car they need isn't ordinary: it needs to be big enough to seat a basketball team.
Janet and Frisco Mulitalo get a good chuckle as the seven teenagers under their care share quips about the leaking brown van parked out back. Most of them have been dripped on through the leaky windshield and front windows.The tear in the dashboard may be ugly and the windows that don't defrost inconvenient. But, the smell is what makes the boys roll their eyes.
With the leaking windows, the van never really dries out, so the mildew smell is as familiar as the tan interior. Then, there's the real problem: The van is dying.
They boys, all wards of the state who live with the Mulitalos in a Kearns group home owned by the Utah Youth Village, laugh good-naturedly at the van that transports them to swimming and other activities.
Its transporting days seem to be ending. Anthony, 14, almost missed his school's graduation ceremony where he was to receive an award for academic honors because the van wouldn't start. Janet Mulitalo says they've been stranded in parking lots by the dying van.
So, Utah Youth Village is trying to raise the money to buy another van for the group home. Even with a discount from a local car dealer, the organization still needs to raise $20,000.
Officials from the Utah Youth Village mailed out 5,000 letters asking for donations. It's too early to tell how successful the campaign will be, said Beth Wolfer, associate director of development and public relations.
Still, the Mulitalos are optimistic. They and the boys are holding off on a planned trip to Bear Lake in hopes a new van will become a reality.
As wards of the state, the boys live in the home learning life and behavior skills. Some were with the Mulitalos in a Sandy group home before the Kearns home was opened. Others have been there just weeks.
"This is like a family," says Ryan, 17, the home's oldest teen. "Janet and Frisco are there for us every day."
Raising seven teenagers may not be the traditional family Frisco, a former Salt Lake County deputy sheriff, and Janet, a former executive assistant, envisioned. But it's love and commitment and homework and everything else that makes "family."
The couple's own children, 4-year-old Rylee and 1-year-old Rory, live with the couple and up to eight boys at a time in the large Kearns home. Known as "family teachers" the pair tries to teach by example in caring for teens whose own family situations require the state's intervention.
The boys in turn say they are succeeding. Rafael, 16, was flunking out of school before he came to the home. Now, he likes school and has a 3.6 grade point average. Anthony, who hopes to attend Arizona State University one day, had a 1.2 before he came to live with the Mulitalos. He now has a 4.0.
Anthony says he's learned a lot there, including how to talk to adults and how to appropriately handle criticism. The boys also learn day-to-day skills such as how to do their own laundry and cooking.
The home in Kearns is one of four owned by Utah Youth Village, which has a contract to take care of more than 300 of the state's abused, neglected and ungovernable children. The Village also has 40 therapeutic family homes and gives in-home help to at-risk families.
The boys in the Kearns home range from 12 to 17 years of age. Ryan, Teddy, Jeff, Justin, Rafael, Anthony and Matt say they are learning to set goals and succeed in school. They may have caseworkers, but these are regular teens who like sports and art.
Whether it's earned rewards such as Nintendo or the chore chart on the kitchen wall, the boys say the structure and caring atmosphere makes them a family.
Executive director of the Utah Youth Village, Eric Bjorklund, said the grade point average in the home is about a 3.2, a world away from where some of the boys were before they came there. Now, the boys will continue to work toward graduation from the program and returning to their own homes, adoption, a less structured foster home or college.
A local dealership has found a used 15-passenger van and offered to sell it to Utah Youth Village at dealer cost. In addition, Rick Warner Ford offered to throw in $1,000. Now, officials are relying on the community's help. If you are interested in making a donation toward the purchase of the new van, call the Utah Youth Village at 272-9980.