It’s hard to see students leave our programs without the growth we hope for. These kids stay on our minds and in our hearts long after they go. We reach out to them to remind them we’re here even if they don’t reach back out.
*Lacey was one of these kids. She had failed out of our Truancy Diversion program about nine months ago. We frequently texted her without getting responses until recently. She texted one of our staff to say that she was in a bad situation. She’d gone to a party and could see herself slipping into bad habits. She asked us to come pick her up. We went to get her and chatted on the way home, thankful to hear about her growth. Even while we didn’t know it, *Lacey was pursuing the changes we had been praying for. After all that time, she still knew we had her back. She knew we meant it when we said we were there for her.
While we may wish there was a some single sweeping gesture that could impact youth, such heroic efforts usually fail to reach those who are numbered by life's disappointments...
We've learned that it's often the small, everyday interactions that shape a young person's life.