Client Stories

A senior in high school, 17 year-old Kerry was referred to HFW in August 2011, by staff at a partial hospitalization program where she had been receiving treatment for depression. Kerry had become very withdrawn after the death of a close friend, and was having difficulty addressing her ongoing mental health needs and communicating with her parents. She suffered from very low self-esteem and often made decisions not in her best interest. Self-conscious about being overweight, she wanted to do something about it, but felt embarrassed in front of others. Her ‘Vision’ was to improve communication with her parents, become more independent, and attend nursing school after high school graduation.

As the family engaged in the HFW planning process, identifying and prioritizing their needs and goals, they adapted well, and, before long, started working and communicating as a team. They learned the importance of creating a safe environment where all family members could express their feelings, concerns and ideas, without blaming or shaming one another. Kerry’s parents realized that by asking their children for input and listening to them, they actually were supporting them in making positive change, rather than surrendering their authority as parents. Kerry, her parents, and the HFW team developed an individual Plan of Care to help her accept more responsibility and participate in age-appropriate activities and tasks, in order to feel more useful and independent. From there, thanks to everyone’s hard work, the process moved quickly.

With the help of the HFW team, Kerry joined a Zumba class at a local church, and attended it regularly. She lost weight, felt more confident about herself, and began spending more time with family and friends. Her communication with both parents, but especially her father which was lacking, has improved significantly. She completed her senior project with very little help from others and is improving her grades.

Since joining HFW, Kerry feels that she has gotten along better with her parents, is able to express her feelings more readily, and wants to complete all the action steps she’s established for herself. Her parents recognize the progress she’s made and feel that “she is doing great." In the words of her Family Support Partner, “Seeing Kerry today is a huge difference from the Kerry I met months ago. I am happy she joined HFW and look forward to Kerry graduating from the HFW process and seeing her advocate for herself.” Recently, Kerry did indeed successfully ‘graduate’ from HFW and continues to do extremely well. She hopes to find a job within the next six months. Congratulations to you and your family, Kerry. Keep up the good work and all best wishes as you embark upon the New Year!

Prior to entering Pinebrook’s Making the Grade program, Matt had few friends, poor grades and regularly skipped school. Participating in the Making the Grade program gave Matt the confidence needed to succeed in school. With the help of a Pinebrook Making the Grade family worker, who provided an intensive in-home assessment that identified strengths, needs and risk factors contributing to Matt’s truancy, he and his family developed a truancy action plan to provide necessary support. His family worker also connected Matt and his family to other community resources. With newfound confidence, his attendance and grades have improved, Matt has made new friends and he even tried out for his school’s sports teams. To learn more about Pinebrook's Making the Grade program click here.

About five years ago, I was sitting in the same seats all of you are right now; waiting to find out if I was getting an award; wondering if my behavior had been “good enough.” Yes, me: I was a Pinebrook Foster Child; and you and I will always have that in common.

At times, I wasn’t the best behaved child. I believe I leaned more to the worst. I was angry, sad, even confused sometimes. And, my behavior showed it. I remember my caseworker at Pinebrook was always doing everything she could to help me. It seemed like my caseworker and foster parents tried everything, but I was stubborn and thought I knew best.

I was first placed in foster care at a very young age. No matter how much I wanted her to, my mom couldn’t take care of me and my sister. I can remember the Pinebrook families who tried to take care of me, even though I didn’t want them to. I just wanted to go home, but I couldn’t. Can you see why I was both sad and angry all the time?

Then came the day -- August 17, 2006 -- when I left Pinebrook and was placed in a group home. OMG, was I scared! Although there were a lot of bumps in the road for me, this was where I knew I had to turn things around. Once I began accepting the adults in my life as only wanting to help me, I started to do what was expected of me. I became a leader and had responsibilities; just being the person that so many people knew I could be was so hard.

After making progress and achieving my goals at the group home, I was ready to be a member of a foster family again and I was placed with a family in Bethlehem. I worked at a local restaurant and I swam and dove for Freedom High School. I was also a member of the Freedom High School Theatre Company. With that, I became part of the Lehigh Valley documentary “MOST VALUABLE PLAYERS,” a film about the three top high school theatre programs in the Lehigh Valley attending the FREDDY AWARDS. Please look for it on Oprah’s Network this year. It is one amazing film.

After graduating from Freedom High School in the top 15% of my class and being given many awards and scholarships, I lived in an Independent Living Transitional Living apartment and started my first year of college at Northampton County Community College. I lived in Allentown, but school was in Bethlehem and my first class was at 8 am. So, I became the bus queen. I worked hard to get the grades to transfer to Bloomsburg University, where I am now a senior in the American Sign Language Interpretation Program and Photography. I also minor in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education.

This road has been very hard for me. There were road blocks everywhere I turned. It even got so bad at one point that I almost had to leave school because of my health. I went from being a child in foster care to a young adult who works a full time job, goes to school full time and still manages to find time to study, write term papers and do community service (something I learned from my Pinebrook caseworker). Of course, somewhere in the midst of doing all this, I do find time to sleep and shower (something I learned from my Pinebrook foster mother).

So, for those of you sitting here [Pinebrook's Family Recognition Night], I stand before you to tell you: YOU CAN BE SUCCESSFUL! Although I didn’t know it at the time, I realize now that the years I spent with Pinebrook, even with my behavior problems, was such a gift. I was placed with a great person who loved her girls. She didn’t always like the things I did, but she did support me in my activities and interests.

Largely because of all the support and help I received along my journey, I have accepted a job at Walt Disney World as a Sign Language Interpreter, which I will start when I graduate from Bloomsburg in May 2012.
To learn more about Pinebrook's Placement Services click here.

One could say that Jeremy has not had the best of luck in his young lifetime. Actually, to the contrary, his has been a most difficult journey. His parents struggled with addictions and were in and out of prison, unable to care for him. His adoption, along with his sister at a young age, was not successful and he later entered the placement system, with stays in foster care and residential treatment. Struggling with significant mental health issues and clearly impacted when choosing not to take his prescribed medication to help stabilize his functioning on a daily basis, it was hard to predict what might happen next...

When the HFW team first met Jeremy last year, he was literally going from pillar to post. He had just been discharged from another inpatient psychiatric hospitalization, and was homeless after available family resources were unable to care for him, stealing on a regular basis to survive. Following placement in a group home, a mere two weeks shy of his high school graduation his untimely choice to run away and become involved with peers in the theft of a car across state lines was a major setback, ultimately resulting in his incarceration as a young adult at Lehigh County Prison. While there, the HFW team worked with Jeremy, getting special permission from the warden to hold team meetings on-site. Later, Jeremy wrote to his HFW team expressing his feelings about the help and support he'd been offered, and what it meant to him (excerpted with his permission): "I'm writing this letter to express my appreciation for all your doing. Pinebrook has shown me that someone really does care. You have seen me at my highs and lows...at jail and homeless. No matter what the scenario you always express concern. You been a shoulder to lean on. You shown me something like a separate family...You open up your hearts and show you care, support, and have concern for other's well-being. I'm writing from jail and I wouldn't be writing, I would be sleeping, acting depressed if it wasn't for you, Pinebrook's support."

Such words eloquently underscore the life-affirming value of the HFW model and Lehigh County's decision to finance and bring the Initiative to at-risk youth such as Jeremy, who've had precious little, yet struggle to bounce back against the odds.

We are happy to report that today Jeremy is doing much better. He is living with relatives who've come forth to help him and is attending an alternative school where he is scheduled to graduate this Spring with a high school diploma. He participates in the youth group, MY LIFE (Magellan Youth Leaders Inspiring Future Empowerment), for youth who share similar struggles, and enjoys it immensely. He is actively searching for a job. As he shared in a recent email to his Family Support Partner: "I'm good! I'm glad my medications are working better now! I'm on my way to school, and I'm going to have another good day. Things are good at home."
To learn more about Pinebrook's High Fidelity Wraparound Initiative click here.