Today and tomorrow will be another in a long line of what we all hope will be firsts for My Friend’s House. After three long months our first resident is graduating high school tomorrow. She came to My Friends House after she had stayed at the teen shelter on three previous occasions. In March her foster placement asked her to leave and she asked if she could come to City House. Unfortunately her past at City House was not at all unfamiliar and she had a difficult time when she was there and great consideration was taken to determine if we could meet her needs at MFH. After much consideration and back and forth between CPS and her case managers here at MFH it was determined we would give her a chance.
Upon her arrival we saw a 17 year old girl who would turn 18 in two days very stressed and unsure about her future After all she would be 18 in two days and would be technically out of the system. Jennifer Patten, client service coordinator at MFH spent hours of time trying to help her figure out what were her next steps. At first she just wanted out but with kind compassionate encouragement from staff and numerous volunteers she grabbed a hold of the books and began to pass all her classes. She studied tirelessly for her TAKS test knowing that if she did not pass this test she would not get to graduate and then where would her life go. She woke up each morning at 5 and studied, studied when she got home and every spare moment she had. She consistently asked for extra time and help from volunteers.
Knowing that this young lady would need to develop life skills quickly Jennifer and our team of staff took her to numerous job locations and helped her complete application after application and took her on numerous interviews. With all the applications and need for complete confidentiality we allowed her to use the MFH on call phone as her phone number. We then instead of answering the phone as MFH we just said hello. A few days later the call came. She got her dream job. She began working within a week. Two weeks later the magical day. Her first real paycheck. But it was not a check but a debit card. Once again Jennifer stepped up to the plate and taught her how to use it and how to keep track of her spending ( I wish I had a Jennifer to do this for me when I was 18). She was soon the top crew member everyone was trying to beat in regards to sales.
After only four weeks she was passing classes, had a job and was well on her way to graduation. On May 18, 2010 we got the call. She passed the TAKS. She was now going to be a official Plano Senior High graduate. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we had her counselor and several other standing by just in case the news was not so good. We all pretended we did not know in order for her to share her excitement when she was called to the office at Plano Senior High. Moments later a call from a hysterical little girl crying inconsolably about the idea she was going to graduate. Typically this would have been a call to a mother or father but it wasn’t it was to us. But then it soon dawned on her that she could not graduate as she did not have money for the necessities of graduation.
Lisa Rodger’s soon stepped into action and solicited a pool of volunteers she felt could offer assistance. The cap and gown was ordered and cost covered by volunteers, the invitations ordered and the cost covered by volunteers. Senior portraits taken and the cost covered by volunteers. She went shopping for her graduation attire and the cost covered by volunteers and a church group. She got her hair done and new clothes for portraits all covered by volunteers and various groups who had interacted with this little girl and some who had never met her but were eager to make a little girls dream a reality.
Then only days later to our surprise we received the invitations to her graduation in the mail. When I asked her why was she inviting us and not all of her family her comment was “you all have done more for me than anyone in my life. You showed me I was important and worth your time. I now know because of you that I can dream big and dreams do come true I just have to be strong believe in myself and go after them. And most of all you gave me another chance when I had done some pretty bad things in the past. You saw the potential I did not see”. Wow powerful words from a little girl whose spirit was so broken upon her arrival at MFH.
As I sat today at a volunteer organized luncheon in honor of this young lady I saw her beam with each card opened, each gift received-sometimes still not knowing what to say or how to say it to express her gratitude. No matter how small the gift or card she was truly grateful for all of those who have played a part in her life. Tomorrow as four of us from MFH go to the graduation ceremony we will beam with pride and joy knowing how hard she worked and how hard we worked to make sure she knew she could trust adults. We at MFH now know she can leave the shelter of MFH with a sense of confidence and a joy for all that life will bring her way knowing also we did everything we could to give her a successful start and that was simply to take the time to listen, care and advocate.
It is truly amazing what three months, a group of caring and compassionate people-some of which were strangers can do in a child’s life.
As staff you are the unsung hero’s of what we do. Remember that what you do does indeed make a difference although it is sometimes hard to see. Thank you so much for doing the tough job and being there for these children who need an adult to believe in them so bad.
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