The Turnaround

If you’d walked into that same S.A.Y. Yes! after-school center a few months earlier, you would have seen a drastically different Jake. Jake is sitting at the table, working on a cut-and-paste activity and laughing with his friends.

If you’d walked into that same S.A.Y. Yes! after-school center a few months earlier, you would have seen a drastically different Jake.

He was just starting the first grade when he first showed up at the New Beginnings S.A.Y. Yes! program in Milwaukee. Back then, two-way conversation with Jake wasn’t a possibility. He was a 6-year-old bundle of anger, fear and toughness.

He wouldn’t talk; he wouldn’t smile; he wouldn’t cooperate.

Rachel Valencia, HLIC staff who volunteers at the Center, remembers trying to help Jake with homework one day. No matter how she tried to reach him, all she got was a stony look and a few teardrops squeezed out of the corner of his eyes.

The S.A.Y. Yes! curriculum Here’s Life developed is wholistic, seeking to build up children in all aspects of their lives – spiritually, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. It was ping pong that made the connection with Jake.

Steven, the Center director, began to build a relationship with Jake as they played ping pong together, and soon that trust spilled over into other parts of Jake’s life. A playful and sensitive boy began to emerge as he received the consistent Christian love and care of the folks at S.A.Y. Yes!

“Don’t cut your finger,” Jake said gently to Rachel as they worked on the cut-and-paste craft together. Could this be the same stony-faced boy she’d tried to reach a few months before?

We’re so grateful to all who have given and prayed for S.A.Y. Yes! so that children like Jake have hope for a new life.

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