At 5-years-old, already an accomplished thief under the tutelage of his older brother, Adam says he did what he had to do to survive. He always tried hard in school, but was learning how to smoke marijuana when most children are learning to read, tie their shoes, and ride a bike. �I quit smoking weed from about the 4th grade to the 7th grade and really tried in school,� he said.
He remembers standing proud on the stage to receive awards for math and science and feeling heartbroken to find his parents were not in the crowd. �It just feels real bad,� he said, tears in the 18-year-old�s eyes. �You look out, and you see everybody else sitting with their mom or dad, and yours don�t bother to show up. It feels bad, you know?�
�I remember this one time my mom came at me with a frying pan and starting hitting me with it. My sister tried to get in between us to stop her, but I had to leave the house that night. That was okay because she kicked me out all the time.� Adam was then 14.
He learned to deal, steal, and fight from his older brother. After six months in a Juvenile Corrections Center, his mother, her boyfriend, and Adam moved to Idaho to live in a small, uninsulated trailer in Mountain Home. Although Adam broke his ankle before the move, he was expected to find work in the fields and pay rent. �One day I just couldn�t take it no more, so I packed my stuff after they left and started walking to Boise on my broken ankle.�
After wandering Boise homeless for a week in October, a stranger on a bus ride told him about Hays Shelter Home. �I walked all night, and it was cold and I just showed up. I�ve been here ever since.�
"A lot of kids they just never had a chance to do better, so they start doing bad stuff because that�s what they know. When you come here [to Hay�s Shelter Home], they give you the opportunity and make you think about what�s best for you.�
In just four months after arriving at Hays Shelter Home, Adam completed his GED earning the highest score Hays has ever seen. He enrolled in classes at College of Western Idaho and began working toward an Associate�s Degree. He hopes to study engineering and mathematics, so he can pursue his dream of being an astronaut. After the therapists at Hays Shelter Home helped him find a program to cover the medical costs, Adam finally had surgery to repair the damage more than a year after breaking his ankle.
�For the first time, people are telling me they believe in me. Just in this little time, they�ve already boosted my self-esteem more than my mom ever has. They�re telling me things like �you can do it!� It feels good to hear that even if it is from a stranger.�
