Bobby didn’t know where to start. His sons, ages 1 and 3, had always lived with their mother, Bobby’s former girlfriend, but she had died suddenly. He would raise his sons but he couldn’t get access to the apartment where the boys lived and they had no clothes, toys or official documents like birth certificates. Where to start?
Bobby went to the WayPoint Center at the Black & Williams Center where he met with Community Impact Manager Gerri Botts Lilly. He told Gerri, “I have to do right by my boys. I hate having to ask for help but I just don’t know what to do. I have to raise my boys to do right and make better choices than I have.”
Gerri worked with Bobby to prepare a needs assessment and to set goals with a timeline. Together, among other things they completed applications for birth certificates and social security cards and checked the status of the boys’ well-child appointments and immunizations. Bobby met with a financial literacy counselor at WayPoint and spoke to partnering agencies that nurture and mentor fathers. He left the center with a few books to read to his sons.
Bobby made an appointment to return to WayPoint to follow up on a number of goals that included applying for a larger apartment, obtaining grief counseling for his sons, and meeting with a partnering agency to help him find more permanent employment. He left the center with his head held higher, expressing appreciation for the opportunity to talk with someone who cares and wants to help him and his boys. Bobby found where to start.
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