04/16/2025
In the mid to late 90's we had a young male client (we'll call him Joe) in our outpatient program who was involved with the SC Dept of Juvenile Justice due to a simple possession of ma*****na charge. He had been sent to DJJ in Columbia and upon his release he became involved in the Bridge Program which was designed to specifically help kids transitioning home from DJJ. It was (and still is) a holistic program that focused on a number of different areas of the adolescent's life: substance use, mental health, primary health, family functioning, education and employment. One day, one of our Bridge counselors approached our leadership and said that Joe's family was in danger of being evicted from their home due to unpaid rent. The counselor further stated that this family of 4 (Joe's mom, Joe and 2 siblings) were doing quite well in services. Joe had been attending all services, attending school consistently and making good grades. Mom was working full-time but they were paycheck to paycheck and recently their car had significant issues that were costly to fix. Mom made a choice to use the little money they had fix the car thinking she could ask for some grace from the landlord on the rent. Without a car, she reasoned, she would surely lose her job. Unfortunately, her landlord was not feeling particularly generous and told her if she didn't have the rent within 10 days, they would be evicted. The Bridge counselor indicated to leadership that eviction would most certainly have a very negative impact on Joe and the significant gains he and the family had made while in services. Without hesitation, leadership made the decision the agency would help pay the rent to avoid eviction.
When leaders lead with compassion, it creates a culture of compassion. And that translates into clients feeling valued and safe. The needs of those who walk through our doors are varied and many. It's not just substance use or mental health issues. If we narrowly focus on those, we lose perspective and miss out on opportunities to treat them holistically. And that hurts everyone.
