Joshua's Story

"I’m happier than I’ve ever been."

"Well I will just start by saying it was not easy. I had to do a lot of stuff by myself. When I was eight years old I had to worry about a lot of things that most eight year olds don't have to worry about. I had to take care of my little brother and most of my neighbor's kids. I started working at the age of nine and I started failing in school because I never had time to do anything else. Then I stopped worrying how I felt and started doing things to get into trouble. I got sent to detention for nine months and then to UMFS.

When I got there I was worried about what was going to happen to me. For the first three months I didn't even talk to anyone but my therapist. At that time I wasn't telling the truth about what had happened. I gradually started to talk more and the place turned out to be a lot better than what I thought it was going to be. Then I finally wrote down what really happened and gave it to my therapist. A few months after that, he unexpectedly died and I got a new therapist. It took me a long time to get over it but when I did, I got really close to my new therapist. I made a decision that I wasn’t going to go back home. It was hard, but it was the best for me.

I learned a lot at UMFS. I learned how to care for someone properly, to stand up for what I believe in, to trust myself and believe in me.

Now I am living in a group home. It's pretty much the complete opposite of my house. I don't have to worry about so much. I can go out and do things that a normal teen would do. I am happier than I have ever been. I go to school and have time to do my work. I play high school basketball. I'm in the Jazz band and I sing in the choir. Life is a lot better than it used to be thanks to UMFS and all the staff — but most of all the therapists and teachers. I thank all of you."