Within a week of a plea sent out from the CORE office, a family a thousand miles away was able to receive the hope they sought: a once at-risk child is now living and learning in a safe, secure, education-focused environment with the prospect of a much brighter future.
The CORE office recently received an email from an individual seeking help finding a placement for her adopted great grandson. Ric Kienzle, CORE’s director of professional practices, called and spoke with the woman in her early 70s. Having a hard time keeping up with a very active 10-year old, she was originally looking for a Christian boot camp in which to enroll the boy. She was concerned that he was going to fall in with the wrong crowd and not succeed in school. She reported that he had an IQ of around 125 and was getting bored in school, thus getting into mischief.
Amidst several tears, the two spoke about the benefit of choosing a residential education program as opposed to a boot camp. She was impressed with general programs models and agreed that a residential education placement was more of what she was looking for. She was introduced to the various types of CORE-member programs, particularly those in her geographic area.
With her permission, on a Tuesday afternoon, a plea for help was sent to CORE members in the area. By that evening, Ric had several responses from program directors stating they would look into the case. David Dearinger, executive director of Goodland Academy in Hugo, OK called the CORE office with eagerness, expressing that they had another boy on their campus a year younger with a very similar story who was thriving.
The family visited Goodland Academy that Saturday. On Monday, Ric followed up with the family to see if CORE could be of further help only to hear – in a very elated voice – that after contact with a few referred programs, her grandson had been accepted into Goodland Academy and would be enrolling that week after finishing paperwork.
CORE staff are always amazed by the heart and drive of staff at our member programs. This success story exemplifies the strength and effectiveness within the CORE network – and the ability to find timely and sound solutions when needed.