I'm in Boys' Haven's Independent Living Program and as far as I'm concerned, the Independent Living Program is the best thing about Boys' Haven!
I have my own apartment, a part-time job, and a full load at U of L with a major in Psychology and a minor in Latin. I'm sure being raised Catholic had something to do with my love of Latin.I was raised in central southern Kentucky, right over the Tennessee border. My parents were both convicted felons as well as drug addicts. Due to abuse issues, three of my siblings and I were taken from our home by the State when I was four years old. All four of us were adopted by a Louisville couple that also had three other kids.
This situation wasn't any better. Both of our new parents were abusive. We all tended to run wild in this chaotic environment. By age 13, I was arrested and did time in Juvenile Detention. Eventually I was shipped off to a military academy at Fort Knox, the Bluegrass Challenge Academy.
You might be surprised by my reaction, but I absolutely loved it there! We'd wake up at 4:45 a.m., run 5 miles, eat breakfast, go to school, run 5 miles after school, clean our barracks, have supper, and get a little free time after supper. I thrived on the structure. In fact, almost everyone who went there loved the place.
My adoptive mother had promised she would come to my graduation, but on my graduation day she called me and said she wouldn't watch me graduate, wouldn't even pick me up and bring me home. I went to the YMCA Safe Place for three weeks, hoping each night that my mother would come pick me up. She never did.
I bounced around numerous dysfunctional foster homes for a year before ending up at Boys' Haven when I turned 18. Actually, my final set of foster parents weren't that bad, but they didn't live on a bus line and I didn't have money for a car, so I couldn't get a job as long as I lived with them. At Boys' Haven, I lived on a bus line and got a job as a lifeguard as well as other jobs at McDonald's and Kroger's.
While I was working I started taking classes at JCC and later transferred to U of L where now I am a Junior. I have a great part-time job now, walking dogs for folks in a retirement home. Sometimes I take their dogs to the vet or pick up medicine for the dogs. I love the old people I work with, but I never know what to expect. One of my clients has Alzheimer's and came to the door one day almost totally undressed, handed me his dog, and walked away like nothing was wrong!
My Senior year, I plan to start working towards a Master's Degree in Social Work. I would like to work for Seven Counties or a mental health facility like Our Lady of Peace. I want to work with kids who have been through what I have been through. I think they'd respect me and take my advice seriously because of what I've been through. I wouldn't label them as "bad apples" the way most people do. I'd want to give them a little breathing space and time to tell me their STORY.
That's my story so far. I would like to add one note of thanks to the St. Vincent de Paul Society for selling me a 1988 Chrysler Reliant King. It gets 34 miles to the gallon and runs great! That car's going to help me reach my life's goals.
