Nelson
Children's Center
Residential
treatment for severely emotionally disturbed
girls
and boys, ages 6 to 15
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Many
of the children served by the Nelson Children's Center have been removed from their homes
because of extreme physical, emotional and sexual
abuse.
Sean's Story
When
Sean came to the Nelson Center he was only six years old and barely
four feet tall, much too small and vulnerable to have experienced
all the pain and suffering his case history revealed.
Sean
was depressed; that natural resilience and optimism children seem gifted with at birth had been eroded. By the time he arrived at
the Nelson Center, he had even lost his smile.
Sean had been abused so severely,
and had witnessed such cruel behavior by adults that it took two
years at the Nelson Center to turn his life around. To this day
Sean is more disturbed by memories of his siblings being beaten
than his own beatings. When he and his infant sister were removed
from their "home," she had belt marks across her face!
For a long time, Sean struggled with his inability as a five year
old to protect her.
When he first came to the Nelson Center,
Sean was unsure of himself. In sports, he felt awkward, mostly because
no one had taught him how to throw a ball or kick a goal. In the
classroom he was quiet and meek, surrounded by children who talked
about family visits, an experience Sean would not have. He was all
but forgotten by a family that apparently felt the cost of a long-distance
phone call was more valuable than contacting their little boy.
Little by little, Sean reclaimed his
self esteem and that smile. With therapy designed to reduce his
shame of being abused and neglected, combined with a compassionate
structured environment, Sean began to believe that there were adults
who do not beat children for crying; that there are people who genuinely
care about him, and who are willing to invest their time in helping him.
By the time Sean left the Nelson Center,
he had lost a few of his "baby" teeth but had found his
smile again and was becoming confident of himself.
Placed with an LSS foster family,
Sean still has a long way to go. But like the thousands of other
children who have been helped by LSS, he is well on his way to a
full and productive life!
The Nelson Center receives partial funding from the
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
