Similar stories to the ones below could be told repeatedly through the residents at Sheltering Wings. They are working hard to build safe, secure, self-sufficient, hope-filled lives. We’ll post our favorites here.
Safety Shouldn’t Be Optional…
One of our case managers was showing a mother and her children to their room, and the nine-year-old boy asked, “Is all this for us?” His little sister added, “And we can have our own beds by ourselves?” When she nodded, the boy had one more question: did the door have a lock? She assured him that it did, and he looked up and said, “Good. Then we will be safe, and no one can get to us.”
Children Deserve Stability and Positive Love…
“Before coming to Sheltering Wings, my two boys were being affected by the abuse going on at home. I started to fear that they were learning some abusive behaviors from their father. My two-year- old was starting to say things like “mommy I am going to hit you in the back of the head, and you will die.” I knew if I didn’t remove the boys from the situation, that they were just going to get bigger and stronger and there would come a day when they would be bigger and stronger than me.
Within a few hours of coming to Sheltering Wings, the boys were already playing. I knew I had made the best choice when my four- year-old said “Mommy, today is going to be the best day of my life, because I love it here!” One great thing Sheltering Wings provides is Kindermusik. It provides constant movement and interaction for the boys while also teaching them beneficial tactics for their development. For example, when the music stops; the children have to also stop. If they were about to run out in front of a car and I said “stop,” their bodies would automatically respond to stopping without thinking about it because we had previously practiced it in music class.
Sheltering Wings has given my boys the stability of positive love, attention and direction. It has resulted in a tremendous change of personality and attitude! My best friend couldn’t believe the change in them after being residents here for just a few months! Her exact words were “Wow, they are completely different kids, they just seem so calm and happy!” If they had a change of attitude in just a few months, I can imagine what kind of effects the shelter is going to have on the rest of our lives!”
