Featured Story

Sarah and Robbie were new to the school district and Robbie had been attending school there for 3 months. His mother had recently lost another job because she had spent "more time at the school than at work". Robbie had been running away from teachers and not wanting to go back to class. He would kick and bite and scream to the point that the teachers could not control him and would call Sarah. As a result of all the extra personal calls and the time away from work, they too felt she needed to take the steps to get her life under control.

Robbie was a spirited 9 year old who loved animals and sports. He used to watch baseball with his dad and had been in little league before moving. However, since his dad left their home, Robbie had lost interest in baseball. The school told Sarah that if he left the grounds again, they would be forced to call the police, especially because of his violence.

One day Sarah was sitting in the park across the street from school. A jogger saw Sarah sitting on a bench crying and wondered if something was wrong so he stopped to ask. Feeling so alone and frustrated, Sarah began to explain the recent events of her broken life to the jogger. He had his dog with him and noticed that Sarah had a knack with Bruiser, and that Bruiser was drawn to Sarah. Bruiser didn't like people so this really baffled the jogger. They spoke for a few more minutes and then the jogger and Bruiser left to finish their jog.

Along the track the jogger kept thinking about Sarah and wondered if there was anything he could do? He thought about her "special connection" with Bruiser and remembered he had just heard his friend say she was hiring at her dog grooming salon. On his way back through the spot he had met Sarah he stopped again and told her she might want to give Linda a call.

Sarah sat there until the bell rang and then went and picked up her son. The teacher met her with a flustered look and told her she had tried to reach her but her phone had been disconnected. Robbie's day had been "decent enough but he still had an attitude problem". Sarah grabbed his hand and put him into the car with everything else she still owned and drove to a pay phone to call Linda. Linda wanted to meet her immediately so Sarah went right over. Sarah was to start work the next day.

A few days later, when the jogger left work he stopped at a gas station and noticed a car park behind an abandoned building and a young child playing in the grass next to it. Thinking the person needed help he stopped by and saw that it was Sarah. Seeing the jogger again she quickly jumped out of the car and thanked him for the job lead and said that she had already started the job. She had explained to her new employer the problems she had with her son and the woman had been very kind and said "I had boys growing up and your Robbie sounds just like my Steve". She understood completely if she needed to take time to go address any emergencies and suggested she might want to have him talk to someone like a counselor because that helped Steve a lot. The jogger noticed the full car and inquired about whether she was moving? Robbie heard by this point and offered an answer.

"This is where we live now!" much to the embarrassment of his mom, who once again began to cry. The jogger shared that his mom had died 8 months ago and left him this broken down farm house that he just didn't have time to do anything with. He said he was not much to look at, but he could certainly let her stay there until she could find something else.

While moving her stuff in to the house Robbie admitted that he liked football so the jogger made a call to the local youth football league who had recently held their registration, and even though the teams were full, he was able to talk the registrar into finding a spot on one of the teams her husband coached. Given the circumstances, the jogger paid the fees and said if she would "do something" with the front lawn to make it look presentable again, he'd let that be her payback. In addition, she would work on little things around the house to pay her rent until she could afford to pay with money.

The registrar needed to have papers signed for Robbie so when she met them at her house. The coach explained that he needed to attend school everyday otherwise he could not participate on a football team. Over the summer there were team meetings, a football camp and a field trip. It was these events that seem to have turned his attitude around.

Robbie worked hard that summer. He made new friends, and he gained a couple of mentors. Sarah met a new friend who was able to help her navigate her way through a series of steps that would help her figure out why Robbie was behaving this way. They held child and family team meetings in the farmhouse and the jogger, her boss, and the coaches attended most of them. Through a series of discussions, it came out that Robbie's dad left when he was at school. His mom moved out of their house and put everything she could fit into the car, when he was at school. Baseball and school both reminded Robbie of what he had lost, and he didn't want to lose his mom too.

That fall Robbie's team made it to the playoffs and almost made it to the super bowl! At the post season pizza party, Coach reminded each member of the team that they each brought a special skill to the field that will carry them through life whether they played football or not. Everyone on that team worked together to achieve a goal by working hard and accepting each others faults, and he reminded them that they would always be part of that team while they lived in that community and they could always count on each other. When the pizza party was over, Robbie gave the coach a hug.

Sarah just cried.