Blake (not his real name) was born in Liberia and adopted to a local American family of fourteen when he was nine years old. He states he was never provided an education nor life skills by his adopted family, this was later verified by Mountain Charter High School when he was tested for admission and no school record was found for him beyond that point. He spent his life basically as the family houseboy tending to the needs of the other family members. When he turned eighteen, he was taken to the local homeless shelter where he was dropped off and told that’s all you get from us (his adopted family). A fact confirmed with conversation with the adopted parents and the shelter.
As an eighteen year old boy with no education, life skills, who was socially inept, this was a horrifying experience. Alone in a city he didn’t know, surrounded by people he didn’t know, not having any one to trust or a place to feel safe. The shelter had no means to address Blake’s many needs. The local Community Action Agency, Ninth District Opportunity was contacted for help. The agency began what would become a lengthy project of seeking solutions for this poor, lost, and lonely boy.
The agency began a process of contacting various agencies and organizations that could provide relief and a place of stability for Blake. He consistently fell into gaps of every imaginable kind, making his acceptance into these programs not a possibility. The agency was determined. Forty seven referrals of referrals were attempted without success before stumbling on a local program that agreed to meet with him.
The local agency, an autism program, evaluated Blake and learned that he was autistic and after hearing his life story offered him a full scholarship (valued at over 100k) to welcome Blake to live and participate in their program. This was the greatest lifeline he could have ever imagined. The Ninth District Opportunity spent time helping him transition to his new surroundings and assisted the Autism program with holding him accountable for his responsibilities.
The program would assist him with his life skills and educational pursuits. The two thinks he wanted and knew were necessary for him to eventually become independent. Blake tested at a fifth-grade learning level as an eighteen-year-old young man when he entered the program. Through his hard work and great mentors helping this young man, Blake is beginning to show incredible improvement in many areas of his life.
Blake was recently tested at a ninth-grade comprehension level by his high school and is now able to cook and shop by himself. Blake is working at a local university in the kitchen where he is doing well and attending school in the evenings. As a final tribute to his success, Blake was recognized as the top student of the month at the local high school where he is enrolled. All of this occurred over an eighteen month period of time
Blake was recently given another year of scholarship for the program and also passed the written test for his driver’s license and will soon begin learning to drive.
Community Action at work.
