From Homelessness to Singing and Dancing: How One Eight Year Old Found Her Way

Sissy was a sweet eight year old when Gail became her mentor. After having lived through extreme poverty and neglect, Sissy was in a foster home while her parents lived in their car. They had lost some of their parental rights, and Sissy was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

According to the American Institute for Research, a staggering 2.5 million children are homeless each year in America. This historic high represents one in every 30 children in the United States. Eighty-seven percent of those children worry that something bad will happen to their families. 

Sissy is one of 1,293 children in Clark County, Washington who were experiencing homelessness  that year. 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that children experience homelessness for a variety of complex reasons. The experiences leading up to homelessness, as well as homelessness itself, have a lasting impact on children. Studies found that children experiencing homelessness also frequently face the following:

• Hunger​
• Poor physical and behavioral health outcomes
• Missed educational opportunities
• Instability at home and in school
• Family separation
• Violence

Childhood trauma has lifelong negative effects on physical and mental health. And yet, we know the presence of a caring mentor, most notably through Great Life Mentoring, can improve the child’s mental health and chances for a better future. 

In the midst of the chaos in Sissy’s life, she was able to work with a mental health therapist who recommended she receive a Great Life mentor. Gail was a volunteer from the community who received training and support from Great Life Mentoring, preparing her for the task at hand. She would be the much-needed light in the darkness of Sissy’s life. 

Sissy had been through so much trauma, she really needed an opportunity to just be a kid and have some fun in a safe environment. It was therapeutic for her to see Gail every week. They spent time playing at the park, going to the library and baking. Sissy always wanted to bake enough that she could share with her foster parents or her own parents when she was able to see them. 

The thing that Gail said delighted her the most was when her friend became so comfortable that she started doing improv singing and dancing. Gail was able to document how Sissy had matured emotionally and physically in their time together. 

After they had been friends more than a year, Gail watched as her friend was reconnected to her parents, first with supervised visits and then living with them full time. But Sissy still needed Gail. Even being a young child, she knew it was good for her, and she requested that the mentoring continue. Gail was happy to remain a consistent stabilizer for her friend until she moved out of the area years later.

“It is so nice to feel appreciated and valued,” she said, “The mentor relationship is gratifying in itself—and with the additional kindness and support I receive from you (Great Life Mentoring), I am enjoying my mentoring experience all the more!” 

If you know of a child who is unhoused, living in poverty and receiving mental healthcare, you can request a mentor to help them through life’s challenges. Contact Great Life Mentoring for more information. 

For local information on homelessness, contact Council for the Homeless.

You can help a child now. Use the links to find: Volunteer opportunities in Vancouver WA and volunteer opportunities in Portland OR. The life you change may be your own.