One child we’ve served was Anyana*. She wasn’t at all eager to meet us, and expressed anger at the world, the system of care, her circumstances and our team. The reasons she was removed from her family were valid to outsiders, but not to her. She loved them but the care, or lack thereof, had been normalized since birth.
Through time and purposeful attention, she began to trust the Open Doors Team. She began to ask to see her Survivor-Mentor. She began to laugh. She began to engage in counseling. She even began to see others’ point of view. Slowly, she let go of some of that anger and allowed herself to begin to heal.
Now, she regularly attends church. She is learning to listen to others and not just react. She smiles a lot! And, now she has just accepted her first job. She states that she loves her team of her Survivor-Mentor, her Regional Advocate and her Clinician. She loves working closely with her Regional Advocate to find new community resources. She loves learning more about herself with her Clinician, she loves getting to re-engage in life with her Survivor-Mentor, but best of all she loves growing in understanding healthy boundaries and relationships and has new hope for the future.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy
