As a Director it’s sometimes hard to put into words the stories of children we receive and everything our team does day in and day out.
Countless stories of loss and tragedy mixed in with the joy of hearing children’s giggles and happy squeals while playing tag.
Trying to remain in the joy of knowing children are now safe from their abusers while fully acknowledging that they were abused.
A few months back we received two sisters whose parents were murdered in front of them.
The 9-year-old was still visibly shaking during her admission to the crisis care center from the trauma she witnessed while trying to hide her newborn sister under a table after hearing shots fired.
After their arrival, the DA’s office called and stated the eldest sister would need to testify against the man who killed her parents.
As I drove her to the court hearing I tried to make small talk about her favorite foods, what she likes to do, and how school was going.
Eventually, she silently looked up at me with her eyes full of tears and said “Guess what?”
“What”, I slowly replied as I could feel a knot slowly forming in my throat, “I’m an orphan now”, she said. “My dad died and now my mom too, I have nobody left…”
I tried to keep my voice steady and hold back the tears I could now feel forming in my own eyes.
I responded to her by saying how she will never be an orphan because of the love God has for her, and how she has her little sister and is now safe.
As soon as we got out of the car I gave her the biggest hug and assured her that she is not an orphan.
Hours later I sat outside the courtroom with our psychologist while the little girl sat in a witness protection box shielded from the view of the man who killed her parents.
She looked right into the face of the person who killed her mommy and daddy through the mirrored glass while verbally testifying to what she saw.
She is brave. She made sure her parents received justice and we made sure she and her sister received therapy and support necessary after losing her parents.
