“Leave Me Alone!” It’s an off-putting statement coming from a teenager you are trying to help. But when children are harmed at an early age, their response to pain is almost always anger and that anger can surface at any moment.
Jacob is 15 years old and his peer relationships are marred by irritating verbal remarks, defensiveness, and name calling. At this point, he is having a hard time taking responsibility for his own behavior.
Jacob’s behavior is a response to having seen physical violence in his home and living with a violent person. His home environment was unpredictable. Without intervention, Jacob’s future does not look good.
At The Ranches, Jacob is encouraged to express his anger, but in ways that will not hurt those around him. The adults working with Jacob understand his frustrations and do not take the verbal assaults personally. But dealing with the constant barrage of negative interactions can be tiring.
For Jacob to address the anger he holds inside, it will take time to build trust in the adults around him, learn to communicate his feelings effectively and push past the fear of sharing his story and his feelings about his dysfunctional upbringing. He will also have to acknowledge the pain caused by his family.
While at The Ranches, Jacob will experience, individual and group counseling, classes in life and social skills and communication and frequent confrontation of his inappropriate behavior – all while managing his school work, peer interaction and learning to do chores. This is all very overwhelming and will take time and many understanding adult staff members for Jacob to start to change his mindset. The constant support from staff will provide a sense of self-worth that is needed for him to succeed.
Your donations support will make a difference for Jacob and the residents like him, in our care. Providing for the needs of hurting adolescents takes a lot of time, effort and wisdom from staff, but also food, utilities, transportation, education and activities. We depend on the financial support from friends like you to provide for teens like Jacob.
Your investment in the future of children like Jacob is invaluable to society as a whole. We cannot do the work we do without your help. It is our goal to help Jacob become a productive and healthy member of society. Your financial assistance is an investment in his future as well as the future of our communities. We do not receive government funding at The Ranches. We depend on generous and caring folks like you who are willing to make an investment in the future of young people.
Please join with us today in making the future more positive for young people who are hurting.
Thank you,
Heath Kull
