On Christmas Eve, 1973, a young girl preferred to remain in a cell in a western North Carolina county jail rather than be returned to an intolerable home situation. Responding to the plight of this child and the serious lack of placement resources in the area, a steering committee was formed in early 1974 and on April 1, 1976, due to a lot of work by a lot of caring people, the doors were opened at Hawthorn Heights, a long-term group home for girls located in Dillsboro. Hawthorn Heights was the only group home serving undisciplined and/or delinquent girls in the seven counties of the Thirtieth Judicial District - - Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Cherokee, Clay and Graham and the Eastern Band of Cherokees. Hawthorn Heights was operated as a private, nonprofit organization until July, 1979, at which time, in response to the need for expanded services in the region, the Corporation was reorganized as Mountain Youth Resources, Inc. 

Hawthorn Heights, originally a group home for girls, became a 90-day, emergency shelter for boys and girls who were having trouble at home, school, or in the community. In 1980 Hawthorn Heights was relocated to the Woody House in Bryson City, Governor's Island Community of Swain County, the present location. Mountain Youth Resources later purchased the facility in 1994.

In 1992, Hawthorn Heights became the first federally funded Runaway and Homeless Youth Basic Center Program in the state west of Asheville. The program has continuously maintained this status.

MYR has added other resources over the span of operation from specialized foster care and basic center to family counseling and outpatient services.

All services provided through MYR are made possible with a combination of federal, state and local dollars from our service areas.

Mountain Youth Resources is regarded and respected on the local, state and federal levels as a leader in regional service provision for troubled children, youth and families.