Choices

We all have the opportunity to make choices that we feel are best for ourselves, our families, or the people we support through our work.

Earlier this week, I spoke with a person from a local agency who advocates for youth in St. Lawrence County. He recommended DRC to one of his families and brought the young person and their mom to visit.

Before they left, while the child was helping another DRC kid move a pallet from the front yard to the backyard, he said that after trying to get this kid to school and spending over an hour and a half coercing him every day, he realized he was only adding layers of trauma onto this poor kid. So when he understood that education doesn't necessarily have to be "school," he searched for an alternative and found DRC.

I am beyond grateful that there are people in the community advocating for our youth who recognize the harm in forcing young people to do what society has deemed the "right" thing and take the time to find a substitute because they understand it is best for the child.

When a child who has been refusing school (for a multitude of reasons) joins DRC between the ages of 5-11, we can usually help them overcome the trauma they endured. However, by the ages of 13-18, it is often too late. The harm has been so profound that these kids are convinced they are damaged goods (the "bad" kids) or have given up entirely, and it takes more than DRC's support to guide them toward a positive future.

This particular eleven-year-old did, in fact, join us and had a couple of days to settle in this week. This kid is a self-identified cook and baker and helped make the pizza from scratch on Thursday. I think he is going to fit into the crew beautifully - and I am so very glad his advocate decided that he did not want to participate in generating more trauma for this kiddo.

DRC News

This is a reminder that we accept kiddos into our programs throughout the year, including the Pop-us coming to the greater Massena area in the fall. If you know of a child who is not thriving in school, please have them get in touch. We can help.

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The DRC Summer Program is the last two weeks of August. DRC is here for any family who needs a fun, engaging place for their kids for the very end of summer vacation. Register here.

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The Crews at Canton and Massena were happy to be back this week after our Spring Break. The Canton kiddos enjoyed a long discussion about the eclipse during morning check-in on Tuesday.