The New Beginnings Girls Academy Abuse

   New Beginnings Girls Academy is the girl's home that I was placed in by my mom. Every day I was faced with the difficult challenge of getting through just one more day. Their website and application form offers what most Christian parents looking for a place for their child like. New Beginnings advertises that they teach things such as; emphasising the student's spiritual needs, that through Jesus Christ the student can overcome addictions, mend broken relationships, and get their lives on the right path. They also state that they offer a place of refuge that allows their students to get away from the negative influences on their life and offer the student a "new beginning." They claim that their program offers a combination of spiritual guidance, Biblical teaching, and a healthy, loving atmosphere to help develop character and provide a foundation for confronting the many complex decisions in "growing up." What they don't say is ANYTHING about what the home is really like. They don't bother to mention their ways of dealing with issues, how they enforce their religion, and how they prevent the student from anything outside the home such as abuse hot lines, doctors, dentists, etc.
      The truth about New Beginnings is that they are an Independent Fundamental Baptist girl's home.
They literally force their beliefs on the students of New Beginnings. I know because I was in New Beginnings Girls Academy. Every day we were constantly drilled on Bible verses, required to read our Bibles at ALL times, and forced to become "born again" or face the wrath of the McNamara's and other staff. Bill McNamara, the owner of the home, would scream in our faces about how we were going to hell, our families were going to hell because of us, we were sinners, we were unclean, and many other things. Bill McNamara is the leader of the home as well as his wife, Jennifer McNamara. During my stay of two and a half years, the most staff members we ever had at one time were three. Usually it was only one staff member to ever fifteen to twenty girls. The McNamara's were really obsessed with anything to do with sex, sexual orientation, or anything else sex-related. I can remember several separate instances of Bill McNamara coming into our dorm and saying, "It smells like sin in the camp." What he was referring to was that him he could smell masturbation had been going on. I never did see anyone masturbating, but still, he was obsessed with that. One different time when he was doing what they referred to as "chapel" he made us all bow our heads and raise our hands if we were virgins. What did he need to know that for? What was his purpose of asking? Why did he really need to know? It was just many things like that that we were faced with constantly.
    I was one of the very few that came in as an open, out lesbian. I did not hide my sexuality. On my arrival to New Beginnings Girls Academy, life became extremely hard for me. I was constantly watched and it was assumed that I would get a girlfriend their. Bro Mac (as we were supposed to call Bill McNamara) preached at me numerous times screaming about homosexuality being "nasty" and "gross." On one occasion I remember him conducting chapel. That night he was running around the cafeteria and screaming like a wild man and throwing tomatoes as he screams about hell. He literally got his face as close as he could to mine and screamed at me for being a "fag." He screamed that he would "never let no girl lay lips on me" and how nasty I was. Him and his wife focused on bringing me down each and every day to break me down into the perfect little Baptist that they wanted me to be. I can't tell you how many thousands of tears ran down my face during those long two and a half years. I was brought down by the McNamaras and staff there to feel as if I was unloved, unwanted, a "nasty fag", ungrateful, and cast away by my own mom. They said they were breaking me down to make me a better person, but they were really just breaking me down to break down everything about me including my self esteem, love for myself, and expectancy of ever becoming anyone in this world.
    When I wasn't "right with God" according to them, they would put me as well as many other girls on "discipline." Discipline was one of the many cruel forms of torture there. We were all required to stand facing the for hours. We had to stand with our toes to the floor board and just stare literally only a couple inches, if that, away from the wall. At meals, were were not allowed any condiments such as salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayo, etc. We were also not allowed desserts, anything other than water, and many other things. We were the last to be able to go to the bathroom on bathroom breaks, not allowed to speak a word (unless Bible related) for a week, and many other things like that. Life was miserable. Discipline lasted a week usually unless you got over ten demerits, or Bill McNamara decided you needed to stay on longer. How someone got on discipline was really easy. We were on a merit system, and every little thing could result in a demerit. Leaving your brush out, not having your hair perfect, not making your bed perfect, being late out of the timed five minute shower, being late in line, not eating everything on your plate, talking, not reading your Bible, and so many more things resulted in demerits.
     Life off of discipline was not very much better. We were not allowed to talk at all to each other unless it was "Friday Fun Night." Only then, on Friday nights, were we allowed to talk to each other. If they noticed that you were getting "too close" to someone, as in becoming too good of friends with someone there, they would automatically place you on "separation" from that person. Separation meant that you could not look at, talk to (when allowed to talk), comment off of, take anything from, give anything to, etc that person that you were separated from. Their main goal was to make you feel like you were alone by isolating you from anything familiar. We were not allowed to talk about our past at all. Phone calls were allowed one time every two weeks for fifteen minutes each. We could not call out, our parents had to call us. If we were to tell our parents that we were not okay, something was wrong, or anything else "negative" about the home, the staff would automatically discontinue the call. We were allowed to write letters every Friday. The letter was required to be a page and a half. Those were heavily monitored. Anything at all showing that you were unhappy was threw away. Letters mailed in to us were also read. If anything talked about our past, friends, or anything, they would throw them away and not tell us. Our parents could only visit once every six months for three days. To get a visit, you had to be in the home for six months and be going along with the program to Bill McNamaras satisfaction. If you "weren't right with God," still upset about being there, or a threat to them that you might run away, you would not get a visit no matter how long you were there. Life was hard.
    The home was on 24/7 lock down. We could not leave anywhere even if we wanted or needed to. If a door didn't have a lock on the inside, staff or extremely trusted girls would have to sit or stand in front of it. We called that "posting." If anyone came close to the door, the person posting was allowed to hit them or do whatever it took to get them and prevent them from running. I can't tell you how many times I would sit there wondering if I would ever get to leave the home.

Information containing what the home advertises was taken off of New Beginnings Girls Academy (now called New Beginnings Ministries) official website, http://www.nbministriesmo.com/main.html