James grew up in and out of the foster system. Our case manager Niki first met him at Crossroads. He drifted away and landed in prison again for 4 years and was released last year. He immediately went to see Niki and has met with her weekly for the past year. He still had his ID but thought he had a child support claim on his license. When we looked into it, we discovered he did not and he was able to reinstate his license.
Niki has been working with him on housing and he finally made it into Hope Springs last December. In his meetings with Niki, James mentioned that he wanted to do some volunteering, as it would help to keep him humble. She recommended Black Wall Street. He started filling food boxes for them and offering his help where needed. One day in December while James was
there working, they realized that their Santa had bailed on them and that the kids and their parents were set to show up in an hour. For the next 3 hours children lined up to tell him their hopes for Christmas and as he sat there embracing each one, he felt his heart moved in ways he never realized.
James had always lived on the fringes – even as a foster child, he was shuffled around and didn’t always do well in school. As Santa Claus, James became the center of the day, the one to whom the children looked at with joy and hope. He told Niki later that he never remembered looking at anyone that way when he was a child. One child piped up, “See Mom, I told you he is real!” James felt affirmed in a deep sense. His life has value, he has value. The children’s trust told him so.
This story is a kind of redemption story. A small,
neglected boy grows up and is changed by the small children who see in him what he never saw in himself – what no one ever saw in him before. Niki said this story also shows how strongly knit together we are in the community and the value of our partnership with other civic groups. The men at Black Wall Street offer James a strong model for a more scripted lifestyle to keep him on track
and deliberate about his ongoing recovery.
A year later, James is working as a bus driver and had
moved from the temporary housing at Hope Springs into an apartment. He recently stopped by with his UHaul trailer to say thank you. He regularly checks in with his cheerleader/safety net, Niki and is so grateful for the help he has received.