Adolescent Counseling Services (ACS) is moving into its 30th year of operation, and on Jan. 29 ACS hosted an event at Mitchell Park titled, "Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present, Energizing Our Future," to commemorate the 30-year anniversary.

Over the years, the ACS organization has reached more than 16,000 teens and family members through its counseling services.

"It’s one of the most valuable agencies in the community for young people," one of the founders of ACS, Norma Hesterman, said. "It uses all of its resources well."

ACS runs three programs in Palo Alto and surrounding communities.

"The best thing about it [ACS] is that we have all three programs. They blend together," Board of Directors President Sylvie Way said. "I can’t pick a favorite."

ACS offers on-campus counseling in all four Palo Alto secondary schools and Menlo-Atherton High School, and an adolescent substance abuse program. The third program, Caravan House, is a group home that provides shelter and support to teenage girls with rough home lives.

"At the time I was serving on the School Attendance Review Board, we came across kids who were missing school to work to earn money for their families," Hesterman said. "That is when we decided we needed a group home."

"One of the teachers at Paly [former History teacher Suzanne Stewart] and her husband bought the house and agreed to share it with ACS," Hesterman said. "We eventually got enough money to pay for it ourselves."

ACS has partnered with Mitchell Park to increase parent education in the community. Beginning in February, ACS will host several classes to educate parents about their teenagers in the Mitchell Park Recreational Center. Also, ACS will begin year-round counseling for teens and their family members by continuing their programs throughout the summer.

"For a lot of the kids who have counseling during the year, when school ends the kids go, ‘What do we do?’" Way said. "So this program will fill the gap of the summer."

According to Executive Director Philippe Rey, it is this need for such an organization as ACS in the community that has kept it going for 30 years.

"There is such a need for teens to have free counseling in this community," Rey said. "ACS is on the cutting edge, so we are always adapting new programs to fill their needs."

Most members are proud that the agency has lasted 30 years providing services to the community.

"In the beginning I never thought it would last 30 years, I never even asked the question," Vic Hesterman said.

"I absolutely think it is an accomplishment," Paly’s on-campus counselor Laurie Linscheid said. "It is a testament to all the good work we have been doing throughout the years."

"I’m happy with what ACS has done," Norma Hesterman said. "I will support the organization until I die."