HAT’S A COMMON THEME.
Many staff members are
alumni. The lakeside sanc-tuary
was their home, and
they returned to give back
to a place that saved them
from an uncertain and unpromising
future.
Jasmine Patrick arrived when she
was 14. She had a disabled mother
who couldn’t stop her from hanging
out with the wrong crowd.
“The trouble that I got into was
probably the best thing that could
have ever happened to me because it
led me here,” Patrick says. “As I look
back at it now, it was a blessing in dis-guise.
Knowing the support that I had
when I was here, now being able to be
that person for somebody else means
the world to me. You don’t give up on
a child, and they remember that.”
Patrick heads up the foster care
services, working with DSS, the
Guardian ad Litem program, judges,
and attorneys to place children in
homes that fit their needs and the
capabilities of the foster parents. She
also supervises the foster parents and
the foster child after placement and
acts as a support system to all parties.
“We go out there twice a month
and we have weekly contact.
Sometimes more than weekly con-tact,
depending on what’s going on,”
Patrick says, “We’re very active with
our foster children. We go to their
court dates and attend meetings. We’re
their advocates.”
Ian Callahan, director of transi-tional
living services, is yet another
alumnus. He spent seven years here,
from age 11 to 18, after being aban-doned
by his father.
“My stepmother gave my dad an
ultimatum. It was either her or me,”
Callahan says, “As funny as it’ll sound
to say this, it was the best gift he ever
gave me. I’d probably be on welfare liv-ing
out of some trailer, maybe working
some odd jobs somewhere, if I hadn’t
been at this place. They taught me to
follow the rules, taught me structure
september 2018 62
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and discipline.
Without this
place, I probably
wouldn’t be any-where
good.”
Callahan’s
job is to ensure
the residents
are prepared for
college or the
work world.
For most
incoming chil-dren,
the first
step is learn-ing
to manage
their behavior
through a pro-gram
called
GRACE.
“GRACE
stands for
‘growth, res-toration,
and
cultivating empowerment,’” Callahan
says. “The four levels are safety and
belonging, growth and wellness, confi-dence,
and then future and generosity.
It is a skill-based behavior management
program. It teaches the kids social skills
that they lack in coming here.”
Most residents in the transitional
living program are juniors and seniors
in high school, though some are
attending college. They learn how to
trust others and be trusted in return.
Many hold part-time jobs in the com-munity.
Others have jobs on campus,
learning valuable skills by working in
the auto or woodshop, maintaining
the grounds, or doing clerical tasks.
“Our goal is to get 100 percent
of them working in the community
because we want to give them a more
normal experience as far as learning
job skills and social skills,” Callahan
says. “It’s more about them learning
job skills than about them earning
money, but they’re able to purchase
things and have phones. They learn
the value of money and learn the value
of work experience.”
Faircloth came to the Boys Home
Top: Doreen Williams, director of housing for
teen mothers, says working at Boys and Girls
Homes is a calling. Above: Spiritual formation
programs, including church services, concerts,
and theater productions, take place at Leamon
E. Rogers Memorial Chapel. Right: The facility
includes a working farm.
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