Lisa’s Story:
Yesterday, I noticed one of the Home’s therapists had several Post-It notes on his shirt – they had phrases written on them such as: “I ruined my family”, “I miss my mother”, “Who is taking care of my sister?” I asked the therapist why the notes were stuck to his shirt. He told me one of the little girls, “Lisa”, age 7, was having a very tough morning. When he talked to Lisa, he learned she was worried about her family, afraid her friends didn’t like her and many other things. He made an agreement with Lisa that they would write down all her worries and he would carry them around for her the rest of the day. He told Lisa her job for the day was to leave her worries with him so she could go have fun and just be a kid. As I looked out the window, I saw Lisa on the playground with the other children running, playing and laughing.

Linda’s Story:
Six weeks ago, Linda, 9 years old, came dangerously close to being discharged from her regular school campus to the most restrictive behavioral campus in the school district. Linda was suspended from school nearly every day. Despite the fact she was in a self-contained special education classroom, weeks dragged by where she refused to do anything required in the classroom.

After a special trip to talk with the principal and teachers, staff recognized Linda needed a very concrete motivator and devised a simple plan. Linda has a good relationship with her Team Leader Gaye, so the teachers agreed that mid morning each day, if Linda were following the rules and actively participating in class, she could call Gaye and talk with her for a few minutes on her cell phone. Their conversations are simple – “How are you? What are you wearing today?” Gaye also added in more trips to have lunch at school with Linda and the other children.We are in the 6th week of that plan and Linda has not missed another single day of school and is more focused on her academic progress.

The impact of positive relationships with significant adults is a new experience for most of our children. Creating that experience is what makes Helping Hand Home a place to heal.