Whatever it takes – A.J.’s Story

His father left before he was born. His mother had challenges that rendered her unable to take care of him.

For his first 9 years, he learned that tantrums and provocative behaviour got him what he wanted. For the rest of his youth and most of his adolescence, he was in and out of foster and group homes—16 different ones and 100 different caregivers over the course of 10 years. Not to mention hospital stays and court appearances.

Then A.J. came to Lumenus, because he said he realized that he had hopes and dreams just like any other kids and he wanted to do whatever he could to help make them come true.

At one of Lumenus’ residential treatment homes, A.J. found people who helped him realized that those hopes and dreams were realistic. They helped him discover his strengths and talents and in his own words, “vowed to do whatever it took to help me achieve my goals”.

With Lumenus’ help and support, A.J. was able to secure and maintain a job, return to school, win an outstanding achievement award and successfully enroll in college.

For as long as he could remember, it was A.J.’s dream to become a journalist.  Lumenus helped A.J. transform that dream into reality. Lumenus believed in A.J.  and their belief and confidence in him helped him turn his life in a positive direction.

A.J. knows what it’s like to feel helpless, lost and alone. But now he also knows what it’s like to be a productive, contributing member of society.