Thursday 29 December 2016

Home call

Home is a place where the door is always open to you.
You you don't have to call in advance, knowing for certain you will be welcome.
A home, not an institution,  is what Mama Sue set out to create at her Happy House and that is what it is.
The children once living in our care and who have now moved on know they can always come back to say hello.
There are around 60 children, some who spent the up to five years in our care,  who are now, with our continuing support, repatriated into family homes with relatives who have got back on their feet, 
 Mama and Uncle Billy have a busy time keeping up with the progress of each one.
So it's lovely when a child is able to pop back and say hello.
Natasha, who was with us from being a tiny baby until earlier this year, came back to visit with her mum and her baby brother on Christmas Eve.
Mama was thrilled to see her so very happy and to hear how settled she is at home and in her new school, where we are supporting her education.
They are all living with grandma who is on hand to look after the children while their mum is at work.
Bringing families together in this way is no happy accident, it is the result of foresight and effort. 
Natasha was born when her mum was barely more than a child herself, and the girl was traumatised by the birth and totally unable to look after her baby who was brought into Happy House care.
Over the following years, we maintained links with the mum encouraged her to visit and to build a bond between herself and her child.
Now, also mum to a little boy, sje is able to take care of both her children.
And that's another example of the Happy House magic at work again.