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Lisa
I grew up as a child of divorced parents.
| I don’t have any memories of them being together, and enjoyed living with my mother, sisters and
grandparents. My mom eventually got remarried, and I experienced a rough transition moving to
Cheyenne in the 6th grade. I don’t tend to make friends easily, and moving to a new community
took its toll on me socially. 7th grade was pretty bad for me, as I entered Jr. High without any
friends. When I entered eighth grade I finally started making some friends. My Mom, however,
didn’t care for them. I started to get in trouble at school, getting referrals for behavioral issues
and cutting class. Eventually, my Mom filed a CHINS petition on me and the courts sent me to
Sheridan, the Wyoming Girls School. I transitioned in and out of the Girls School three times,
and in-between these placements I stayed at a group home. I didn’t feel that I deserved to be
placed in a group home, but my caseworkers didn’t know where to place me. My mom was
against me going into a foster home, yet didn’t want me back into her home. Sometimes children
don’t understand what goes on behind the scenes. That is what happened in my case. I was at the
Girl’s School until I was 17 ½. I did not agree with being in a placement three times. I feel/felt
that if a placement doesn’t work the first or even second time around, more than likely the third
time will not resolve much. Upon release, I was released to my mom’s house. Again, this did not
work out, so after only a few weeks I moved into my own apartment. Because I hadn’t graduated
high school, paying rent was not an easy task. I received my diploma through the AC.E.S.
program, because this allowed me to take classes when I was available, because I had to work
during the day. Shortly after I received my diploma, I found out that I was pregnant. At this
point, I was off probation and my case had been closed. Because I was released just weeks before
my 18th birthday, I was not able to receive any Chaffee benefits. How I would manage to raise
this child was of grave concern for me, but still chose to continue on with the pregnancy. I did
decide after I had my daughter that I would relocate to Washington DC with her father, where I
remained for two years. After many ups and downs, I decided to move back to Wyoming so I
could go to college at the local community college. I fortunately qualified for State benefits at
this time, and was able to survive working full-time, and attending college full-time while raising
my daughter by myself. Today, I am employed full-time at the Wyoming Citizen’s Review Panel.
I serve on my councils and boards to try and provide input and Quality Assurance to improve the
system that I feel is broken. |
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Every child needs a positive adult to connect, shelter and mentor them.
This is a photograph of my grandfather’s hands and my niece’s hands. I feel that this picture is beautiful and reminds me of a mentor type relationship. I like this picture because to me, my grandfather has much wisdom from life to share and through his experiences knows just how to guide a small child through trials and tribulations. My niece’s hands are soft and plush. They are so sensitive to any kind of harm or external pain; my grandfather’s on the other hand are tough, calloused and large. They have many scars and so much history. It almost looks like he is protecting the hands of the small child.
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As well as a positive group of their peers.
This is a fun and cute picture. In reality, this picture is from our fundraiser. We brought our children with us and they got to help us raise money. The actual purpose of this picture is to remind everyone that while mentor and adult relationships are important, so are peer relationships, even at this young age.
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We have all heard it many times; all children need an ADULT to show them how to live. They will FIND this adult and hang onto them. Make sure this adult is someone who deserves this responsibility.
I love the silhouette in this picture. They are doing “boy things” and my step-dad is teaching him how to hold onto the sled and how to control where it goes and how to make it go down the hill faster. This is a great example of a positive and important adult/child relationship or activity. My son talked about this experience for weeks. This was an important day in his life.
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Not everyone understands their own talents and gifts. Sometimes we all have to be guided. Some, more than others.
I had just finished this picture. I hand an art teacher that saw some talent in me and really pulled that out of me and helped me focus on this talent. I was very proud of this artwork and it helped me through one of the most difficult times in my life.
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The more and earlier we can
expose our children to different
life experiences the stronger they
will become. Sometimes you
cannot save a young person from
their childhood, but late is better
than never.
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Allowing and exposing a child
to their own skills and talents is
one of the strongest bonds that
a person can provide biological
or not.
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