Blog

In our most recent quarter, Jesse's House served 17 at-risk girls from 6 different counties. We served primarily Forsyth (35%) and Hall (41%). The majority of these girls were removed from their homes by DFCS (88%) due to abuse and neglect. However, the numbers and statistics are not why we do what we do. We do it to be there for the youth we serve, to make a difference in their lives. Recently, we served a young lady whose situation seemed bleak. Her mother had passed away a few years ago and her father was not in the picture. At the time she entered care, there were no family members willing to take care of her anymore and no real prospective for a permanent placement. We were there to help her navigate through the grief process, feelings of abandonment and loss of hope. We were there to care for her when she acted out angrily and defiantly. We were there to facilitate visitations with siblings, tutoring to bring her grades up, and doctors appointments to keep her healthy. We were there to have staff vs. resident Wii Dance Offs to lift her spirits (as well as win some hot cheetos!). We were there to drive her to visits with a possible placement with a family friend who discovered she was in DFCS custody. We were there as she moved on to this permanent home. And we were there when she called a couple weeks later to tell us she was doing great and that she missed us, despite what she had said in anger while living here! We do what we do to be there through the ups and the downs. We do what we do to be there, even if for just a brief moment in their lives, even if years down the road they do not remember our names or our faces. We do not typically get phone calls or updates of residents that have moved on from their chapter at Jesse's House, but what a reward when we do!