This morning we celebrated the sixteenth graduation from the Academy, our residential treatment program for teenage boys. It’s hard to believe that since our opening in May, we’ve had sixteen young men successfully complete the program. There are several traditions that have already developed during the graduation ceremonies at the Academy: a gift is passed around and each peer, counselor, and visitor has a chance to offer words of encouragement or wisdom to the graduate; we mingle and sign a shirt for the graduate to take with them; we form a line reminiscent of Soul Train and sing to the boy as he exits; and finally we strike a singing bowl one time for each graduate who has passed before. Today there were sixteen chimes. As time progresses and more and more adolescents successfully complete the program, we all wonder if this tradition will continue when we are up to 200 chimes.
Thanksgiving, and subsequently the end of the year, often elicits contemplation and gratitude, and even practicing traditions of our own. As I sat with our group of sixteen teenage boys this morning, in what was the funniest graduation thus far, I couldn’t help but slip into this mindset myself. Every time I visit the Academy, or Serenity Place, I become even more attached to the people we serve. I’m blessed that my job allows me to build relationships with amazing people and be part of this chapter of their lives. Yesterday, I spent the day in the infant room at Serenity Place feeding and rocking babies and watching the mothers come pick up their children at the day’s end. It’s amazing and exciting to see growth in them as individuals, but especially as mothers. This morning, I laughed and danced with the guys at the Academy, made up a secret handshake with one of them, got asked by one enthusiastic teen to help him start a garden at his own house when he graduates, and had guys promise they’d knit me a hat and scarf... all before 10 am.
Sounds super fun, right? It is. Oh my gosh, it is. However, my gratefulness isn’t void of complexity. I struggle with the fact that I meet these beautiful people only because they have been battling serious addiction and other hardships. I hate that this is such a prevalent problem in our community. I cherish my time with the moms, kids, and teens at our facilities and I grow really attached to them. Sometimes I even forget why they are here in the first place; I have to remind myself that we aren’t at summer camp, but in fact at a residential treatment facility. I forget that some of our teenage boys were introduced to drugs or alcohol at the age of 7, and I forget that some have been neglected or abused. They seem like such happy, normal teenage boys. They play football, they crochet (maybe not so normal for teenage boys, but it’s a great therapeutic activity for them), they go on field trips, they know all the latest hip hop sings, they are turned off by vegetables, etc.
Watching them graduate is so bittersweet. Of course I’m ecstatic for them to begin new chapters of their lives, but I know it means I probably won’t be seeing them again. I even have to force myself to hope I don’t, because I want better for them and I don’t want them to end up back here. Earlier I mentioned what it would be like to hear 200 chimes at our graduations. It certainly makes me ponder. It makes me wish away addiction and all of the negative stuff that comes along with it. Then I pinch myself and I remember that’s not likely. So while I’m sad that that many children and families may need our services, I’m so thankful that programs like Serenity Place and the Academy do exist to provide the necessary treatment and support to make sure that the clients we serve will be sitting with their families next year giving thanks and celebrating traditions, or even making new ones.
So, a BIG thanks to all of our supporters who make this work possible! Happy Thanksgiving!
If you’d like to take a tour of the Academy or Serenity Place, or participate in an exciting graduation, please call 864-467-3944.
