Hearing, Helping, Healing
children and families impacted by child abuse in Central Oregon
DAMON’S STORY
a legacy of healing
NEARLY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, I was just four years old when I first visited KIDS Center. My birth mother was an unhealthy and abusive individual. She and her husband, and most of our neighborhood were dedicated to the creation, use, and distribution of methamphetamine. While I was in her care, I was the victim of continual sexual and physical abuse. The environment I lived in was one of fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. When my grandparents realized the life I was living during a visit, they found the courage to speak up. They requested I come to Bend with them for a visit and I never returned to my hometown. They brought me to KIDS Center to help me begin to process and heal. What I remember most about KIDS Center was the sense of peace I felt. My world had been one of uneasiness and extreme stress caused by the trauma I had experienced, so being in a place where I could finally feel safe and protected was almost magical; it felt like a dream. My time at KIDS Center was also an integral part of helping the courts understand the importance of me staying in my grandparents’ care. KIDS Center didn’t just help me, they helped my grandparents understand the kind of trauma I had experienced and was able to connect them with education and resources to help them know how to help me. I don’t know how my life would have turned out if my grandparents didn’t bring me to KIDS Center. I often wonder what happened to the friends I left behind. I fear without a place like KIDS Center and adults who cared, they didn’t fare as well. The biggest gift KIDS Center gave me was the freedom I live with today. KIDS Center helped me feel “normal” and was instrumental in ensuring I was placed in a family who loved and cared for me. KIDS Center made my future bright, they gave me a chance for a better life, and my grandparents (now parents) the education they needed to provide me with it. For all of this, I will always be grateful.
Prevention & Education program launched. Darkness to Light selected as the primary training curriculum.
1994
KIDS Center opens
1990
Community members “subpoenaed” to attend a public meeting.
Watch Damon’s story at youtube.com/KIDSCenterBendOr
2005/2006
“THE BIGGEST GIFT KIDS CENTER GAVE ME WAS FREEDOM.”
Today I dedicate my professional life to giving back and helping children who face similar challenges to my own. As a DHS Child Welfare caseworker in Oregon, I work with children who have been removed from their parent’s care. I try to give children hope in situations that can be so very dark. I’m amazed when a child I’m working with recognizes that I know, really KNOW, the struggle with the feelings and emotions they are experiencing. I am able to offer these children a piece of the hope and healing that I was given by KIDS Center. In many ways, my daily work passes on a legacy that KIDS Center helped create in me...a legacy of healing from situations too horrible for words, hope despite darkness, and peace instead of chaos. - Damon, a KIDS Center Client