“When An’tinique was being bullied at school, she withdrew from everything. She didn’t want to get out the bed in the morning, she didn’t want to wash up, and she especially didn’t want to go to school.”
These are the words of Christine Hudson, mother of three girls who brought her child An’tinique, 11, to the Children’s Center a few years ago when she was experiencing bullying. At their first meeting, Christine, An’tinique and older sister Aron, 16, were sitting in the lobby when Aron asked Christine about The Children’s Center. “After I explained the services to her, she turned to me with her big beautiful brown eyes and said, ‘Mommy, I think I need to see someone too.'”
Christine didn’t know why Aron would want to see a therapist, but knew to ask for an appointment right away. Aron later revealed that for the past few years she had been dealing with suicidal thoughts and attempted to take her life multiple times. This news was devastating for Christine. She realized that she had missed every warning sign and could have lost her child had it not been for that fateful day in The Children’s Center waiting room.
The Hudson girls are treated in our Healing the Hurt program where more than 70 percent of our children receive services for everything from autism to severe emotional disturbances and beyond.
Merely 20% of children and adolescents with diagnosable mental health problems receive the treatment they need. But thanks to you, we are able to serve thousands of children like the Hudsons every day.
“As my children continue going to the Children’s Center, I can see the change in their personalities. I see them smiling more, I see them interacting more and most of all, I see them being kids.” Christine says.
