When Shawna and her family lived in the projects of inner city Detroit, just getting from home to school and back each day was a dangerous journey. At 16, Shawna was struggling with depression and explosive anger. One too many fights with teachers finally got her expelled, and that�s when she confided to her mother that she was being sexually abused by a neighbor.
Shawna�s mom took drastic action. She gathered what little they had and took Shawna and her two younger siblings to Idaho on a Greyhound bus. They arrived in downtown Boise, found a local family shelter, but Shawna caused trouble there, still fighting the world, full of pain and anger that neither she nor her mom knew how to deal with. Thanks to a case worker, Shawna was admitted to Hays Shelter Home, where the combination of caring therapy, stability, and family counseling eventually led to a happy transformation.
At first, Shawna didn�t know what to think of life at Hays. Back in Detroit, she said, �I was worried every time I left our apartment that someone would die before I got back.� But as she began to trust herself and the people around her, school became her place to shine, and she excelled at her classes. And for the first time, she experienced what it felt like to be safe.
In the meantime, Shawna�s mother found a full-time job and housing. The family is settling well into their new life and Shawna is taking lifeguard certification classes at the YMCA, with the help of a well-earned scholarship. Scholarships are just one of the ways that we continue to help our kids and make sure that we finish the job.
