|
Our Family
At 14, Hector was removed from his parents' home for
neglect and physical and emotional abuse. He moved in with a foster
family and before long began testing them. His temper and misbehavior
kept escalating, and finally the family asked DCF to take him away.
After a relatively calm stay at a youth shelter, he was offered a place at Forbes House
for a fresh start.
Soon he started testing again. He
lashed out at staff members, refused to do his chores, stayed in his
room. His grades suffered. But the staff was as stubborn as
Hector. They wouldn’t give up. Little by little he saw
that this family could be trusted. He always knew where he stood with
them; he knew they wouldn’t let him go. They, in turn, realized
that he needed time to himself and helped him find special spaces in the
house to call his own. More settled, he began to befriend the other
boys in the house. He was elected president of the House Council and
then the Group Home Youth Board. His grades went up. And last summer
he landed two jobs, putting extra money in a savings account.
This past January Hector left Forbes House
to move into an apartment at Umoja House. The day he left, he
excitedly ran to the program manager with a letter in hand. Smiling
from ear to ear, he handed her the letter. He had been accepted into
a Massachusetts
college. He begins this September!
Back to Top
Karen longed for a family. After her mom died of AIDS, she lived
with a succession of relatives and foster families. None gave her the
stability she needed. She ended up in a residential treatment center and
then at one of our programs. But Karen still missed having a
‘real’ family. She ran away to an aunt in South Carolina, hoping to be accepted
and loved. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that easy to live with and soon
wore out her welcome. Karen headed back north, hung out with the old crowd,
and hustled for money. Then one night, as she walked through a park, she
was the victim of a drive-by shooting. She had hit rock bottom.
During a visit to a doctor, Karen ran into
a staff member she knew from Youth Continuum. The staff member, now at Umoja House,
gave Karen a business card. Several months later Karen showed up, homeless.
Having no room, Umoja House referred her to a women’s shelter and
worked with her while she waited for an opening. When Karen finally moved
in, things were good at first. But then she started testing all the rules.
Given one last chance, Karen completely turned her poor behavior around.
Within a year she finished high school and
was accepted by Benedict College in South
Carolina. Last summer the staff drove Karen to
school and she has since successfully completed her first year. She
regularly calls staff members and refers to them as “the family I
never had.”
Back to Top
Keesha became a parent at age fourteen. Not to a baby, but to her
schizophrenic mother. When her situation became too difficult, Keesha moved
briefly to a shelter and then a foster home. At seventeen she learned about
CHAP
and saw it as the way to an education and a career.
She entered CHAP with the goal of getting
her degree and buying a car. But it was harder than she thought. She barely
managed to get to classes, to work, and to save money. And she learned the
hard way about friendship. Her friends asked her to be the lookout during a
night of vandalism and she said yes. It was an expensive lesson, costing
her an arrest record, court dates, and restitution payments. Fortunately
her CHAP case manager stayed right by her side. And Keesha began to see
what friendship could be.
Keesha will receive her Bachelor’s
Degree this year. She’s developed a good relationship with her mother
who is now in school, too. She has that car. And she has her independence
– her apartment now has her own name on the lease.
Recently Keesha sent her case manage a
card: “Thank you for pushing me. Without your encouragement and
guidance I don’t think I would be where I am today. I will never
forget how much you helped me over the years. You are appreciated more than
you realize.”
Back to Top
Jamal is 18 years old and still living at Uno House.
He decided to stay an extra year to make sure he was ready to live on his
own, and because Uno had become his ‘home.’ At his age
he’s given a lot of freedom there. He’s a freshman in college
and needs private time to study. He’s proud of his grade point
average and wants to keep it up. And he likes spending time at school,
playing basketball and working on their computers.
It wasn’t always like this for
Jamal. Abused at home when he was young, he became abusive toward his
younger brothers and sisters. He was sent away to two residential treatment
centers. At sixteen he was arrested and charged for the earlier abuse of
his siblings. He was still in an outpatient treatment program when he came
to Uno House. It was clear that he wanted to start over. He asked for help
and the staff worked with him and his counselors.
Jamal is now a responsible, independent
young man. But he still likes the comfort and safety of Uno House when he
feels faced with an obstacle, such as a job interview that inquires about
his police record. Soon he will move into Youth Continuum’s
transitional living program and hopes to transfer to the University of Connecticut.
He plans to call home regularly.
Back to Top
Sam was always the timid one. Removed from
his family due to abuse and neglect, he eventually found a home at Uno
House. Sam's been participating in programs at the MacMullen Center
for Education Training & Enrichment for the past several months.
Initially, his shyness got the best of him and he showed little interest in
the Center and its offerings. But after attending a hip hop literacy
workshop, his attitude changed.
To date, he hasn’t missed any of the continuing workshops unless
it’s been for a doctor’s appointment or other important
meeting. He comes to the sessions prepared and on time. At the start of the
workshop each student was given a journal for recording their poems and
essays. Sam writes in his journal both in and outside of class. He's so
excited about his writings that he shares them with everyone in the van
during the ride to the MacMullen
Center. He's found a
creative outlet for expressing himself. He is emerging from his shell and
connecting to and inspiring many around him.
Back to Top
|
