Jermaine’s Story F inally, Jermaine could breathe a sigh of relief. He and his extended family were well out of town – out of the clutches of the gang that had controlled his life for the past two years. Just two nights ago, 16 year old Jermaine was sleeping in his father’s bed, afraid for his life. The rest of the family had moved to another home. It was too dangerous to stay in their own house. The gang had made it clear that there was no way out for Jermaine. And to make matters worse, they had begun to intimidate one of his siblings, inferring that they were also in danger. The situation looked bleak for Jermaine and his family until a social worker contacted Options to refer Jermaine to the agency’s High Risk Youth Justice program. Options took Jermaine’s referral to the Children and Youth At Risk Table (CHART). CHART is an inter-agency group of 11 agencies in the community, consisting of police, probation, social workers, school district representatives, and several community nonprofit organizations. The Table determined hopeless. But that’s when the Options staff got to work. They began by using their personal contacts to look for an endodontist who was willing to donate his time to complete the surgery. They found one. He was willing to donate $4,000. That left an outstanding balance of $3,000. Options was able to cover that amount from a
discretionary fund. Just as importantly, the staff helped her address the trauma she experienced earlier in her life and register at Douglas College. When Carrie came in that day, it was clear she was no longer depressed. She’s dealing with the trauma she experienced, she’s feeling more self- confident and she is well on the way to realizing her dream of becoming a writer.
that the only solution for Jermaine and his family was to relocate them to a community outside of BC. With the goal in place, CHART developed a plan for Jermaine and his family to move. The probation officer and social worker arranged for the family to receive services in their new community, school records would be transferred, and the police were prepared to
escort the family out of town. But there was one more hurdle.
The family had no money to get them from Surrey to their new home. Options was able to address this need by supplying the financial resources that Jermaine and his family needed to successfully relocate into their new community. Today, Jermaine and his family are safe and thriving. They’ve gotten their lives back. All because a community cared enough to provide them with a helping hand when they needed it most.
11
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs