Mark's story

LYDIA’s residential program seeks to use the time residents are in our care to give the youth coping skills, along with therapy, to move past anger or hurt from childhood trauma.

This was the case for Mark* who came to LYDIA at age 13.

Before coming to LYDIA, he had taken care of his mom and younger siblings. If there was food needed, he had to find it and cook it. If there was money required for expenses, he needed to figure out how to earn it.

Once at LYDIA, Mark realized for the first time in his life, it could be about him. Soon after he arrived, he started to open up to receive anything anyone could give him about how to live life.

Mark's entire demeanor changed as a result. He didn’t walk around angry at the world any longer. Instead, he started smiling and looked forward to experiencing life.

Mark told staff he didn't want to waste a minute because he finally had a voice in his life and his future!

*names and personal information have been tweaked to preserve the privacy of the people in the stories.