When you met Jacob, you saw a normal, energetic seven-year-old boy. In reality, he was sad, angry, and lonely. Jacob had experienced numerous horrors at home in his short life: parents with substance abuse challenges and physical abuse. Most tragically, when he was only 7, both his mother and the man who lived with them died by suicide within two days of each other. He was orphaned – or so he thought.
Jacob carried a great burden of trauma with him when he arrived at HomeSafe’s Sylvester Family Campus in January 2019, the day before his ninth birthday. He had been removed from his home in 2015, but neither a foster home nor the home of an aunt was a good fit. Fueled by rage, he was acting out, and he was hospitalized multiple times under Florida’s Baker Act for threatening to kill himself or others. He was referred to our Libra Boys program because it would provide the intensive therapy services he needed to process his feelings, develop better coping skills, and start healing.
The first year was hard. Jacob didn’t trust anyone; he put up a wall by calling the staff derogatory names and using profanity. He also channeled his anger inward — literally beating himself up. But Jacob was surprised in various ways. One was that the staff weren’t put off by his misbehavior, but continued to love him because they were so determined to help him.
One breakthrough came after Jacob moved from the house where he was assigned, supervised by Ms. Monique, to the other house on campus supervised by Mr. Derek. Ms. Monique’s house was being converted from a boys’ home to a girls’ home. Jacob discovered he missed Ms. Monique and her team and would visit them daily. Eventually, those visits ended with hugs. Jacob was letting himself begin to trust.
As Jacob adjusted to Mr. Derek’s house, the staff there helped him build his self-esteem and comforted him whenever he could not soothe himself. Earlier this year, after Jacob was switched to a new medication, he gradually gained more control and the ability to stop and think before acting out. A new therapist, Ms. Stephanie, became another adult Jacob could trust because she spent time with him in “his world,” shooting hoops and riding skateboards.
It was Ms. Stephanie who gave Jacob the biggest surprise of all. Several months ago, she learned from Jacob’s treatment team that his records misidentified his biological father. Jacob’s mother had told him the man who lived with them was his father. The truth was that his real father was still alive and reached out to Jacob’s case manager, looking to connect with him. After a paternity test provided confirmation, Ms. Stephanie shared the happy news with Jacob.
Now 11, Jacob has been able to leave HomeSafe and start a new life with his father in Michigan. Jacob’s father still stays in touch with Ms. Stephanie and reports that Jacob is thriving in his new home.
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