Lessons in belonging
You need to know that you matter.
He is a teenager who captured the hearts of our staff. He had no place to go; he believed he had no one who cared. We showed him otherwise.
Meet Owen.
- He is 17 years old.
- His mother left him when he was 1.
- Sometimes he lived with an aunt, but he spent most of his childhood with a guardian – the ex-husband of his mother’s sister (a different aunt) – whom he called “uncle.”
- He came to our multipurpose home at age 16 for stealing his uncle’s truck.
- His uncle is remarried, and Owen is no longer welcome in his home.
- He gave our staff teacher a coffee mug and candy for Mother’s Day.
- He discovered his own mother lived 15 miles away as he worked on a family tree project.
- He wants to build a relationship with her.
- He moved into our transitional living home last May to learn how to be independent.
- For his birthday, we gave him a BMX bike.
- He loves to read and keeps at least four books by his bed.
- He earned his GED and forklift certification while he lived with us.
- He worked hard in his first job at a fast-food restaurant.
- He left us this spring and lives now with his 24-year-old cousin.
- He doesn’t think his life is harder than that of other kids he knows.
- He’s working at a bike shop, and he just got a promotion.
- One day, he wants to go to college.
We will be here for him.
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