Celebrating new beginnings

Spring is the season of new beginnings. In that spirit, we hope you enjoy the following story about a family that recently completed our Single Parent Family program, in the words of their case manager:

Photo courtesy of David Biesack via Flickr Creative Commons

It was a dark, cold fall day when I drove to a domestic violence shelter to interview a potential National Home resident. She was living there with her two active little boys, and she was filled with anxiety about where she was going to go next. Her time was up at the shelter, she hadn’t finished her education, and she didn’t have a job.  She was alone with no family support, and she was scared and beaten down both physically and emotionally.

Then the family was accepted into the Single Parent Family program at the National Home. They were eligible because the boys’ grandfather served in Vietnam. The day they arrived, Mom’s initial reaction was a common one – she cried when she saw the house she was going to live in. She was so grateful.

The boys didn’t cry though! They were too excited and happy – and busy exploring the house. As the family transitioned into the program, they worked on a family plan, and Mom set goals for herself.  Her self-esteem started to build, and she decided to enroll in college and finish her degree.

The National Home team was able to assist in finding needed counseling both for Mom and her boys. Mom got a job and attended financial classes. She really became empowered by those classes, and for the first time ever, she made a budget and started saving. Her boys benefited from the wonderful care at the National Home’s child care center.

When the day came for the family to be discharged from the program, Mom and I sat on the floor of her empty living room and went over what she had achieved while she was in the program. She was four credits away from earning her bachelor’s degree; she had built a very emotionally healthy and stable family that she didn’t have when she arrived; she had become the manager of a small business; and because she saved while in the program, she was able to purchase a small house for her and her boys.

Transformation – it’s positive change.  That occurred for her, for her boys and for me – I witnessed this family’s discharge knowing they have the tools and the resources they needed to make a better life for themselves.

National Home alum pays it forward

Karac Brown first came to the VFW National Home for Children at the age of 22. A newly-single dad, he says he was “terrified” of raising his young daughter on his own. But thanks to the support he received from the community of staff and residents here, he left three years later a stronger person and a better, more relaxed parent.

“Without this place, I would not have made my life what it is,” Karac said. “I came away from my experience at the National Home with the perspective and confidence to grow as a person and a parent.”

This Christmas, Karac was back at the National Home to help make the holidays brighter for a new generation of residents. As chairman of UAW Local 724, he organizes a group of volunteers to come out to the National Home each year to hang Christmas lights around the campus. His daughter, now a straight-A student in the seventh grade, got to take a day off from school to join the group this year.

“She remembers our time here like it was yesterday,” said Karac. “I told her if she kept her grades up, she could join us for the decorating. I’m proud to have her out here with my crew.”

When asked about what brings him back to the National Home, Karac said, “I made it because of this place, and I want to try and bring back for the new residents some of what made it great for me.”