The Impact of a Kind Word
“Kind words, kind looks, kind acts, and warm handshakes, these are means of grace when men in trouble are fighting their unseen battles.”
We were able to serve a new children’s home this week. The kids stole our hearts. First some background:
On River Time partners with four children’s homes located in Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas to provide life-affirming programming to the teens in their care. The kids we serve come from unhealthy, sometimes dangerous environments. But when they arrive at Big Oak Ranch, Palmer Home, Still Creek Ranch and Homes of Hope, they gain a home to live in and house parents and siblings who become their new family. They are home.
But there are still around a half a million children in foster care every year. Many of these kids are caught in the system, going from place to place, while the state seeks reunification with their biological family or adoption.
Just ten miles from our office in Birmingham is King’s Home, a special place that for 48 years has been a refuge for thousands of children and women seeking hope and help from domestic violence, neglect, abandonment, and abuse. Because these children are in DHR, the average stay at King’s Home is about 18 months. Their life is still very much in upheaval.
On Monday, On River Time staff and six volunteers showed up at their beautiful facility to provide our SOAR programming including scored speed interviews to help prepare the teens for real job interviews. We knew in advance we would have up to 22 youth. We planned rotations of fly fishing lessons with Mr. Steve, the speed interviews where each teen was able to practice 10 minute mock interviews with three volunteers, and finally we had two amazing women who shared from a hiring perspective, what an employer is looking for in a job candidate.
The plan was to provide support as well as important information to the kids to help prepare them for success in future job interviews. But it quickly become apparent this was about so much more. Some of the teens opened up in the interviews and shared the hardship they were experiencing and the unhealthy families they came from. Stories that would break your heart. Our volunteers were amazing, and compassionately conducted interviews, scoring the kids gently but giving them useful suggestions to work on. One younger boy who appeared quiet, broken and often in a corner said after the interviews, “I got 4’s! That makes me feel really good.” Later, one of the directors told us that a boy hung his score sheets in his room because he was so proud of them, they served as a reminder of his positive traits.
We left a piece of our heart at King’s Home. And we also left with a clear understanding that our time there was about so much more than interview practice. It was an opportunity for caring adults to demonstrate, ‘I see you. I hear you. I care. And you matter.’ Caring, encouraging, affirming.
Thank you Krista McKinney from Basesix, Kim Sharpton from The Syntropy Group, Milton Smith from McGriff Insurance, Danielle Wilson and Mandie Powell from Joelle Salon, as well as our own Beth Plummer and Ginny Gilbert for the gift of your time and your hearts for these precious kids. And thank you, King’s Home for having us.
