My story is one of hope that started inside the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento

I write these words because The Sacramento Bee recently ran front-page articles about the nonprofit Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento (CRH), which provides shelter, residential care and mental-health counseling for children, including emotionally and behaviorally troubled youths.

Behaviors demonstrated by children and teens who act out or run away, and are highlighted in these articles, illustrate the enormous challenge and importance of the CRH mission to care for kids who, in many cases, have nowhere else to go.

These kids are in the midst of the most traumatic and chaotic time of their lives. It can take years to appreciate how the staff of CRH make life-changing differences for these kids who arrive neglected, broken and filled with more hurt than most adults will see in their lifetimes. I know because I was one of those kids.

My first memory of being sexually abused was when I was just four years old. After many years of abuse and neglect, I came to CRH at 16, terrified, angry and filled with hurt. My first memory of CRH was of the black-and-white tile flooring, long replaced. You see, I carried so much shame and embarrassment that I refused to look up at the strangers who now knew my secret I had kept for so long.

Through the gentle and kind intake at CRH, I was provided clean clothing, medical treatment and, among other things, a clean bed I could be certain would not be visited in the middle of the night.

I was terrified, angry, and endlessly suspicious of why they were all so kind. I acted out, and felt undeserving of any of it, much less of the very first compliment I could ever remember in my life. It was just a passing comment from a residential counselor who will never know the difference it made in my spirit.

It was the first seed of hope that would take much time and patience to grow into a life that I could never have imagined as that broken young girl. Because of the hope given to me in those early days of my rescue, and a lot of work since, I have a successful career and a beautiful family who will never experience the trauma I had to endure.

My story is just one of many among those who have found hope at CRH. I’m honored to serve on the CRH board of directors and work with staff who feel just as passionately about sharing seeds of hope for a better future for these kids.

Like any organization devoted to the hope and healing of our communities’ children, we need the support, funding and dedication of our community and its leaders. CRH is state-licensed, nationally accredited and devoted to doing difficult work under the constraints of state laws that include preventing youths from leaving campus or confiscating their cell phones. Yet, these are two basic tools most parents would use to help keep kids safe, much less those already so vulnerable.

CRH self-reports behavioral incidents to the state and runaways to law enforcement, and work at ensuring our kids are a good match with the counseling and other programs we offer. We strive to help them stay healthy and safe and continue on a path of healing and hope.

As a former resident, current board member and volunteer, I know there is work to be done as we look into the all-too-familiar faces of the next generation of children who need our help. We will continue to tell them they are not alone, that there is hope, and that CRH will help them find it.

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.