COAL VALLEY, Ill. — Following its closure, Arrowhead Ranch in Coal Valley is selling off some of its remaining property in an "End of an Era" yard sale.
The sale will take place inside of Arrowhead's main building on Oct. 24-25 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Some of the items that are up for sale include desks, cabinets, office chairs, computer monitors, dishes, kitchen utensils and a professional food mixer. Cash payments are requested.
The sale comes after the facility announced they were closing back in April. Arrowhead Ranch has offered behavioral and educational resources for local children for 79 years, even providing residential programming.
Dr. Luis Moreno, who has worked as the CEO at Arrowhead for five years, said the pandemic was a leading reason for them closing down.
"We were limited on how many kids we could take at that time because we didn't know what COVID was really about and how, how severe it really was," Moreno said.
A decision from the federal government also limited the number of kids Arrowhead to serve, only allowing those with with severe struggles to visit the facility.
"So those kids who are considered mild or moderate could no longer be placed in residential facility and that's who Arrowhead was," Moreno said.
Moreno said consistent support and services from Arrowhead should be able to help all children.
"At least you get them to a place like Arrowhead and they seek treatment, and they get away from the negativity," Moreno said. "But when you're a kid and you live in a neighborhood where drugs are being dealt or gangs are there or in some cases the parents were the problem. If you live in that environment, and they go to a therapist maybe once a month, twice a month, it's not gonna really work."
Despite this, Arrowhead workers were left with no options.
"These types of facilities are needed," Arrowhead Supervisor Harry Cribbs said. "You have to mentor and help the youth that are coming up and show them the direction that they need to go instead of just letting them wander and try to learn on their own because there's no help there."
Cribbs remembers his time at Arrowhead fondly and said youth success is his main priority.
"I've been working with youth for about 25 years in different capacities and wanting to see them succeed, that's what our families put into us.," Cribbs said. "Help somebody else because we're always gonna need the help. Working with youth is a good thing because as I said, I may be working for them next."