Emerson Centre's History

Although he did not know it at the time, Rick Emerson's destiny of founding Emerson Centre and providing help to the children of North Louisiana started out by just trying to help out a friend. In 1999, one of Mr. Emerson's friends became the court counselor for Lincoln Parish and sought his help and guidance in the position. Eventually the position became open, and Mr. Emerson presented the Lincoln Parish Police Jury with a proposal. This proposal laid the foundation for what would someday become Emerson Centre. Mr. Emerson had the idea that one person could not do these children justice by going it alone. His mantra was that if you are going to slay a dragon, then you are going to need an army. People needed to get involved, but how? What was the likelihood that he would be able to get people to donate enough time to these kids, time that they would not be getting paid for, that it would be able to make a difference? That's when the thought occurred to him, what if he could inspire and train the future generation of social workers and in turn, help out the children of Lincoln Parish at the same time? From here Emerson Centre was born. In the beginning Emerson Centre consisted of Rick Emerson and four graduate school interns who provided counseling to twenty-five youths a month. The children were cases referred to him by the juvenile court system and from Family In Need of Services (FINS). Instead of these youths being sent to correction facilities or being placed on probation, now there was a chance for rehabilitation. 

What Rick Emerson saw in North Louisiana was a need that was not being met. There were so many troubled youth; many who were impoverished and did not have the resources to get help. The result seemed to be that the same children were just ending up in the court room over and over again. Mr. Emerson felt that he needed to provide for those that could not provide for themselves. So with his four interns and the help of his former business partner, he started providing individual and family counseling as well as group counseling to these youths. As the program became successful, more referrals started coming in. Mr. Emerson could have put a limit on the number of cases that they received. There was very little money, and he could not adequately supervise more than a handful of interns at a time while personally counseling children and still holding a full time job as a professor of Social Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. But instead of turning away, he pushed forward and extended their services. 

Emerson Centre has grown tremendously over the years. Emerson Centre received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2003. In the beginning, Rick Emerson was the only counselor on staff; now there are nine counselors employed by Emerson Centre and many interns from several universities across North Louisiana. At the end of 2006, Emerson Centre moved out of a three room office space to a much larger building that accommodated the entire staff and the many children the Centre was now serving. In addition to the new office offering more space, it also had the draw of location. The office is centrally located in downtown Ruston and is directly across the street from the Courthouse. Then in 2007, Emerson Centre opened the doors of its first counseling Centre in Union Parish. Now the counselors who worked for Union Parish had their own space to conduct sessions and did not have to travel to Ruston. Recently, Emerson Centre has acquired another office space that is behind their Ruston office. Now Emerson Centre will have a Lincoln Parish Adolescent Centre and a Lincoln Parish Children's Centre. 

In 2006, Rick Emerson was acknowledged for his lifelong achievement of making a difference in the lives of children living in Louisiana by being the recipient of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Angel Award. During his acceptance speech at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Angel Award Reception, Emerson likened his work at Emerson Centre to a simple analogy: it's so much easier to prevent a fire than it is to put it out. If a child has a need or is hurting, then a counselor at Emerson Centre is there to help.