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Stories from and about our clients
(Please be assured that all names are kept strictly confidential. Also, please note that these are not pictures of our clients.)
From MIchael - August, 2009 . . .
(The following letter from a young boy was written prior to his leaving Wood's Homes to return home to his family. He left his letter under his pillow for the next child to see.)
"This used to be my bedroom. At Wood's it is a safe place to talk about feeling. talk about what happened in the past. and hard things. and you are not here because you have been a bad boy or girl you are hear to get your heart healed."
From Jason - May, 2009 . . .
"I came to woods homes in september of 04 i was very angry all the time and i had givin up on everything
it took me along time to adjust to the program structure and when i did i realzied that woods is a wonderful place when i first got there i was awoling everday i learned some bad habits i.e. smoking marijuana ciggaretts drinking breaking the law..
then one day i got a dose of reality i walked into the court room wearing blue sweat pants and blue sweater and shackled at the ankles and handcuffs around my wrist i looked at my lawyer and then at the people in the court room and then at my staff and the judge began talking and i thought i was gettin released but i was wrong i went to C.Y.O.C calgary young offenders center for a while
i remember one day i was sitting in my cell right after a fight broke out between to other inmates we were told to get to our cells asap so we did and i remember after a while a song came on the radio it was bone thugs and harmony I cried as i listened to that song i started crying.
i was crying because i was scared of the real world and the future everyone i afraid of future because its the unknown. then my day came i got relased from cyoc and i returned back to woods homes even though i treated the staff and other youth like dirt alot of the time they never gave up on me and i would always tell them to give up and i remember all of them saying to me we never give up.
thank you for not giving up on me or any other youth. I remember watching all of my friends finish treatment and get discharged with a very proud look on all of thier faces good job all of you.. :) i got upset everytime i seen that because i was at woods for so long and i never got dischared yet the staff told me all i got to do is be good and follow treatment and after a while i began to do that.
then my day came i got the party i was always waiting for i have never been so happy in my life but sad at the same time because it meant i would have to leave all of my friends behind and the great staff also i also remember the day i was discharged i ran up stairs into my room and blocked the door i didn't wanna leave but i knew it was my time i finshed what i had to and i would like to thank all of the staff and residents at wood's homes and everyone assoicated with woods homes for helping me become a better person."
F
rom LIsa, Summer 2006
I was from an upper middle class family. Bad things like drugs and prostitution didn't happen to good girls like me.
How wrong I was.
I was literally held captive... selling myself to support the pimp's drug addictions and to buy the drugs that would one day control me.
EXIT gave me the strength and courage to face treatment for my problems and still carries me through rough patches in my life today. I was able to gain the courage I needed to leave a life where I was trapped and to eventually press charges against the people who turned my life completely upside down.
I credit Wood's Homes with saving my life.
(A former EXIT Community Outreach client who has successfully gone on to a brighter future, after completing a Bachelor of Applied Justice Studies program at Mount Royal College.)
AND . . . ONE DECEMBER
A 14-year-old girl with multiple incidents of violence and abandonment in her life set a fire under the pillow of one her Wood's housemates.
No -one was hurt and no -one knew who set the fire. When the truth came out, kids were afraid to be in the same room with her and staff worried she would do it again.
She packed her bag and waited to be told where she was being moved next. Screw up and get sent away. She knew the drill.
But she didn't know Wood's.
Later, before a judge, she said: “I just can't understand why they forgave me and didn't kick me out.”
Wood's Homes never gives up - and today this young woman has a future.
- Wood's Homes CEO Jane Matheson, telling the story of one young resident.
We would love to hear your success story and how Wood's Homes helped you. Please email us at: askus@woodshomes.ca