Fifteen-year-old Jamie was a very athletic and creative teenager with many friends, but during her sophomore year of high school, she began to display severe depressive behaviors.
Jamie lived with her mother and grandmother, as her biological father was not in her life. She was a very sensitive and emotionally intelligent young woman with interests in art and volleyball. Jamie’s mother was the sole source of income for the family, and despite working two jobs, she struggled to make ends meet. Due to undiagnosed mental health challenges, pressures in her life and an ailing live-in grandmother, Jamie began experiencing anxiety and depression. She had difficulty expressing her feelings to her loved ones, so she began self-isolating.
By the time she was referred to Pacific Clinics by her school, Jamie was cutting herself and staying in bed all day, refusing to attend most of her classes.
Her Pacific Clinics team immediately got to work, coming up with a plan to engage Jamie with art therapy sessions, and a daily routine with small, incremental goals, such as getting out of bed and brushing her teeth. They also helped to meet the family’s basic needs, including assistance with utility bills and groceries. Pacific Clinics were even able to provide Jamie with a holiday gift of art materials and a journal.
Slowly but surely, Jamie was able to get out of bed more days than not, and she learned to reach out to her support system and use her coping skills – art projects and journaling – on difficult days. Today, she has rejoined her school’s volleyball team and goes out with friends, saying that she is more hopeful about her future than she has ever been before.
Over the past year, 71% of the children we serve have seen a significant and measurable increase in positive family functioning, school behaviors, and social skills because of programs that your donations directly support. That’s why we’re reaching out to you – every day, we are seeing a greater number of desperately struggling families, much like Jamie’s, and we’ve got to do something to help them TODAY.
