Through Their Eyes: From Being a Resident to Serving Youth

For Ash, his first memorable experience with such disappointment came six years after entering the system when he was leaving another center. He was told there was a chance he could go home and be reunited with his family. The day of his release came, but instead of going home, Ash learned he was going to another residency.

While Ash wasn’t going back home like he was hoping, he was brought to our Good Shepherd residential program in Warm Springs, GA, when he was 12 years old. Unlike his previous placements though, there were two great benefits to this specific experience. First, his four brothers were also placed in the program soon after Ash arrived, giving all the brothers a sense of home and familiarity. The second benefit was the horses.

This farm-based treatment program gives our young men the unique opportunity of being responsible for a horse, helping to feed, brush, and take care of them. Ash soon developed a special bond with the horse he cared for, just as many of our clients do. This connection typically serves as a first step to healing for the boys and establishes a sense of both strong responsibility and ownership in them.

Between having his brothers there with him and having the rewarding experience of working with the horses, Ash figured if he couldn’t be home, this was the best case scenario given his circumstances. However, from everything he had endured in his life to that point, Ash had a lot of emotions that he didn’t know how to manage properly, resulting in behavioral challenges that often got him in trouble.

“I was a lot back then,” Ash acknowledges.

After seven months at Good Shepherd, Ash started a fight that ended with a broken window, shattering his ideal situation by having to move elsewhere. He went to another facility that was better equipped to handle such behaviors in children that he and others had developed over the years, where he stayed for several months.

Then came a welcome surprise.

In his home county, a foster parent who was already caring for one of his brothers wanted to care for Ash too. Ash left what would end up being his last facility and went to his foster home.

Eventually, another one of Ash’s brothers came to the same foster home, bringing a total of three brothers to the home, and the remaining two went to a home in the same county. They were all able to be either in the same home or near each other, go to the same school districts they were in before, and have some sense of return to the life they once had together.

To make a good situation even better, Ash’s foster parent was also proving to be an exceptional and caring person to him and his brothers. He was very family-oriented and not only prioritized the brothers spending time together, but also advocated for them to have regular contact with their parents.

“He didn’t treat me and my brothers like we were foster kids. He treated us like we were his kids,” Ash shares. “He tried to make our life as normal as possible, and he did a good job of doing that.”

Even though Ash was still a teenager who had trouble processing everything he had been through and sometimes acted out, his foster parent stuck with him and didn’t give up on him or his brothers. “He was one of the biggest influences to keep me from going back to my old lifestyle,” Ash says. “He’s like my real father.”

Ash stayed with his foster parent until he was 20 years old, when he signed himself out of DFCS care. As a young adult, he worked different jobs over the span of several years, some of which involved helping kids in the foster system, until he saw a job opening at Good Shepherd.

“I always thought that maybe one day I’d work at Good Shepherd,” Ash explains. “I wanted to work with kids that had gone through similar situations as me so maybe I could have some sort of positive influence on their lives.”

He excitedly applied for the open role that would allow him to work directly with boys in the program, and was soon offered the position. Ash, of course, accepted.

Like taking a trip back in time, Ash walked through the doors that had been a comfort for him so long ago, and began his new journey of helping young men who had experienced much of the same things he had. Having been in their shoes before, Ash was intentional on doing his best to be for the boys what his foster parent had been to him: an advocate, consistent, and someone who would stick by them.

“I think that’s what a lot of our guys need. Someone who’s not going to give up on them, somebody who’s not going to just throw them to the side,” Ash says. “It can be a lot and it can be frustrating to have to deal with somebody like that, but it’s rewarding in the end when you see that person coming through their storm and making accomplishments, and you know that you had that influence on their life.”

Ash has worked at Good Shepherd now for three years and has found it both difficult and rewarding to work with kids who were just as angry and confused as he was. One of his favorite parts of the job is talking with the boys and learning about them, what they’ve been through, and understanding how these things influence some of the things they currently do. 

“They say they like talking to me because they feel like I can really understand the situation that they’re in,” Ash explains. “I’ve been there, and it’s like looking through their eyes.”

Ultimately, Ash wants the boys to feel comfortable and open about their experiences because listening to their stories often allows for future healing for them and for Ash to have the opportunity to give advice from someone who’s been there and come through to the other side.

Like everyone at GBCH&FM, Ash wants every child in our care to be successful and make it to the better life that they can achieve. He works day in and day out to advocate for the young men at our Warm Springs campus, and tries to keep in touch with some of them even after they leave our care so he can check on them.

To further his skills in social services and transforming children’s lives, Ash is considering going to school to pursue a degree in Social Work. At first, the thought made him nervous, but after working at Good Shepherd and seeing kids grow into thriving adults, the thought has grown more appealing. No matter what, though, Ash has found his purpose in serving others.

“I think it’s more enjoyable to be there for people, because that’s what life’s all about,” Ash says. “There were so many people that were there for me so I want to be that for someone else.”

What started as a bumpy journey at 12 years old has now transformed into a career where Ash can make a positive impact on children in his community, just like others had done for him.

Your support makes stories like Ash’s possible. Thank you for giving children and families a place to call home. You can learn more about our Good Shepherd program at www.GeorgiaChildren.org/good-shepherd