Anthony: A Success Story
Before I came into DSS custody, I was a troublemaker and didn’t see any future in front of me until my social worker removed me from my home. I was placed at a shelter and began interacting with other people with different problems. I liked that group home a lot, but it was only a temporary place. After two months, my social worker helped me search for another program and I found Rediscovery House, which is one of the best programs I’ve ever been to. I have achieved a lot of my goals, for example passing my GED, going on great activities, learning about house care and cooking, and trying different types of therapy like anger management. I accomplished my first job ever, where I learned how to landscape and paint; and I am still working now. Many of the staff love me.
A few years ago, I got into some serious trouble that could have gotten me locked up for a long period of time. Since then, I’ve been staying out of trouble while I’m in DSS custody, and Rediscovery House has shown me other things than just hanging out with friends and causing trouble. For the past year and a half, I have been non-violent and have attended therapy to try to resolve my previous history and talk about life without being in the gang. If I were to return my hometown, I could get back into arguments with my parents, gangs, and drugs, and be without anyone to look up to. I wouldn’t be able to attend therapy there either.
I currently work at Brigham’s Ice Cream and Sandwiches. My boss likes me a lot because I am hard-working and always there when he needs me. I want to stay at this job, because I like working and recently became Shift Manager. I also worked at Stop and Shop for six months. I worked in the entertainment area, stocking, bagging, but had to leave because I was not receiving enough hours. I have learned how to respect customers and serve them the way they want to be served. Work makes me feel great and keeps me busy. I have managed to budget my paycheck every week and am starting to learn how to save money.
I initially went back to high school while I was at Rediscovery House, but didn’t feel comfortable at the regular public school. So I left school and started my GED. Currently, I want to go to work part-time and go to school part-time so that I can pay my bills on time. Plus, I have not been in school for the last year and a half, so I want to take it slow and will take more classes once I get settled. I would like to go to college.
“The staff at Rediscovery House helped me with schooling, getting my GED, getting jobs, etc. – things that will help me for the next twenty years. I compare my life before to my life in now, and I see a future.”
*Excerpted with permission from a letter to the Department of Social Services
Rediscovery, Inc.
296 Newton Street, Suite 150
Waltham, MA 02453
781-894-1222 • 781-894-1228 (fax)
