Christmas Blessings

Jeremy and his mom are Door of Hope residents who came to the facility in August. As an only child, Jeremy doesn’t have siblings, or family, other than his mom to interact with. When he first came to Door of Hope, he had a difficult time acclimating to facility, and interacting with the other kids and staff. He would rarely talk at all, and when he did he was extremely sarcastic. Most people would simply give Jeremy his space, but the Door of Hope staff and residents made a decision to not give up on Jeremy. They continued to talk to him, invite him to join in activities, and mentor him. After a while, Jeremy started to open up. He began to join group activities, interact with the other kids, and was polite to the staff. His grade started to improve at school, which gave him more confidence. Before, Jeremy would not participate in the homework study groups with the rest of the kids, because he was embarrassed about his grades and his remedial studies. But when he started to excel, he was more than happy to show off his good grades to everyone.

 “I think it was a matter of Jeremy getting used to the Door of Hope environment and getting used to everyone,” says a staff member. “Plus, I think the fact that we didn’t give up on him played a big role in him coming around.” Not only is Jeremy doing well, his mom recently got a job, and a promotion, as well as a housing voucher. The family is looking forward to spending Christmas with their Door of Hope family and seeing what wonderful things are in store for them in the New Year.