Karen came to WGA at the age of 13 after chronic school truancy caught the eye of child protective services. She pretty much did what she wanted, when she wanted, without a thought for her personal safety or wellbeing.
At home, her parents struggled with poverty and severe addiction. She didn’t know limits or boundaries or have the maturity to understand their importance. A temporary stay in a group home didn’t last long. She recalls running away, back to “the streets,” staying out and disappearing for days. That all changed when she came to WGA.
“I feel going to WGA saved my life. Being away from home saved me. I have a lot of good memories there. It’s 40 years later, and it still has a very big impact on me.”
Karen says she “was always ambitious but struggled with structure.” WGA taught her the importance of structure and routine. “It’s also where I got a very strong work ethic. Nothing is free in this life. It taught me responsibility and the importance of having that work ethic.”
“We all go through things that make us who we are, but I just feel like if I did not go there when I did, my life would have taken a very different path… and not a good one,” she concludes. “It helped mold me into the powerhouse of a person I am today. And the relationships I built with people that were there that I still have to this day… there’s nothing like it. We’re still in touch all these years later.”
Even though Karen had biological siblings at home whom she loved very much, she considers many of the youth with whom she attended WGA as her “sisters and brothers.”
“It was a sisterhood. There’s a part of our lives that no one understands because we were there together.”