I’m back with the rest of Billy’s story, as promised.

 

As you may recall, Billy came to us at Good Samaritan after experiencing extreme forms of abuse and lots of struggles with anger and self-harm.

 

 

Getting to a place of processing trauma took time and effort. Billy wrote his story and worked to come to terms with his past. He reflected on how he would move forward and find meaning in the experiences that happened to him. He shared his story and became an example and encouragement to others that you can move from simply surviving to thriving.

 

Billy’s family was consistently involved and invested in his treatment. His mom – even on the toughest days and in the times when it was unclear whether Billy would be willing to accept the help being offered – was a constant through his treatment journey.

 

While he had made immense progress at Good Samaritan, there came a time when Billy received all our treatment program had to offer. The next step was to move home.

 

It took courage for Billy to come face to face with his past, his trauma, and his resulting behavior. Because of the hard work he did while in Good Samaritan’s treatment program, he is walking into a brighter future.

 

There are so many youth like Billy that are the reason we do what we do at Good Samaritan. As Penny, Billy’s therapist, shared: “It’s an honor to be a witness to people’s stories. And so often we’re a witness to the deepest, darkest parts. But because of that, we also witness the most shining successes.”

 

Read Billy’s full story here. And thank you for your support!

 

Jayme Raynor

 

Community Development Director