Before HomeBase
When I was 12, my mom sent me from Iowa to live with my dad in Arizona. My older brother had moved out there the year before. I had been living with my dad for five years when we started to have some major disagreements. Eventually, the courts got involved. I was 17 when CPS came to my dad's house to look at how I was being treated. It wasn't good so they removed me from his house and sent me to live in a boy's home.

That was really hard on me. I had to leave my high school, all my friends, and a nice neighborhood and switch to the school by the boy's home. It was a rough school and overall was a big environmental change for me. But I had gotten used to fitting in to new places because I moved a lot as a kid.

Path to HomeBase
While I lived at the boy's home, all I had to do was go to school to finish up and get my high school diploma. But once I turned 18, I had to leave the home because the state wouldn't take care of me anymore. Mary was a counselor at my high school and she found out about my situation. She took me to HomeBase Youth Services. I entered the Transitional Living Program (TLP) and lived at HomeBase. The people at HomeBase said that I would have to finish high school and then probably get a job which I didn't think was too bad of an idea.

Life at HomeBase: Part 1
My first stay at HomeBase was very short. My grandparents had given me savings bonds every year for my birthday and Christmas so, without really thinking it through, I decided to cash all of them and get an apartment and move out of HomeBase. It turned out that was not the best decision, but I am proud of one thing I did after leaving HomeBase. Living in the apartment with a roommate and while working as a telemarketer at night, I continued going to school and graduated with my high school diploma. It would have been easy for me to blow that off, but I got up every day with no one telling me to, got myself to school, kept up with my work, and got that diploma. I remember going back to show my dad and he blew it off, said it didn't mean anything.

After graduation, I continued working as a telemarketer. I did that for a while and then I went to my mom's house in Iowa for Christmas. When I got back, my roommate had decided to move out and I found out that I lost my job so I had no way to pay the rent. I got evicted from the apartment and went to stay with my brother for a week or two. After a while my brother told me I couldn't stay there much longer and I would have to find a place to go.

Life at HomeBase: Part 2
I went back to HomeBase and was relieved that everyone welcomed me back. It was funny because when I left the first time my case manager, Dana, told me she knew I would be back. And she was right! But I'm just glad that I was able to enter the program again.

When I was in TLP, I had made a variety of friends and knew that I would always have a good meal to eat and a bed to sleep in. The people at HomeBase worked very hard to help me understand that I had to work for things if I wanted anything. So I got a job at a restaurant in Paradise Valley Mall. I had never held a job for very long but I was always trying to make the people at HomeBase proud of me for doing my best.

HomeBase had a very friendly staff and it was an environment that I could feel comfortable in and not pressured to talk about things that I wasn't ready to talk about. They would always do everything in their power to help make my stay a better one if at all possible while still abiding by all the rules.

HomeBase made me realize how much potential I had when for so long I had been told that I was worthless. Hearing that really helped me kind of break out of my shell and try to do new things and expand my vocational horizons so to speak. I was starting to get interested in computers, and the people at HomeBase helped me to believe that I could be successful in computers. And I learned that I don't have to impress anyone but myself.

After HomeBase
While I was at HomeBase I was preparing to enter the military - the Army, more specifically. With the help from the staff and other residents, with some mental and physical training of sorts, I felt that I was ready to endure the trials of Basic training. I have been in the Army for a little over 3 years now and was able to follow my interests and specialize in computers. I can honestly say that without HomeBase I would probably be on the streets somewhere in Phoenix.

Someday in the future I hope to be able to get out of the military, move back to Phoenix, and work part-time at HomeBase so I can give back to a place that has given so much to me.

I'm also interested in going to college, maybe study business management. Me and my brother talk about opening a body shop some day so it would be great if I could get a degree that would help us with the business.

When life gets challenging, I know that things can always be a lot worse than they are. I will always think back to my time at HomeBase and realize how much better off I am because of HomeBase Youth Services.