Unimaginable Histories

Hello Friend,

Almost every day is a new learning experience now that we have six precious souls living with us. I, Michael, am surrounded by six young women and my wife, so you can imagine how I'm constantly behind the learning curve!

We received general background information and interviewed each of our girls before they entered the Reina's Hope program. However, we continue to gather more detailed information about them and some of their past experiences. Some of these revelations shock and sadden us as we realize what they have endured and, as a result, continue to endure.

We learned more information last week when one of our girls was seeing our dentist. Dr. Ofelia always wants to have a record of each girl's family and treatment history.

As she was gathering that information from one of our girls, I'll just call her “G,” this is how the conversation went:

Dr. Ofelia: How long have you been under the care of DIF (Social Services Program)?

G: As long as I can remember. All of my life (G is now 17 years old).

Dr. Ofelia: Do you know why you were placed with DIF?

G: My mother was 12 years old when I was born, and the hospital called in DIF to take care of me.

Dr. Ofelia: Do you know who your mother is?

G: No.

Dr. Ofelia: Do you know who your father is?

G: My father was my grandfather.

Some of us may have truly challenging pasts to overcome. G and some of our other girls have almost unimaginable histories, which result in stigmas and questions.

Thank you to all who have come alongside us to support Reina's Hope and our amazing staff of psychologists and educators who work with us to pour into these sweet souls every day.