Since he was very young, Ben experienced neglect, physical, and sexual abuse at the hands of his mother. He was removed from the situation and placed in the foster care system when he was five, and since then, he has been moved from home to home with little stability or counseling for what he went through. That all changed one year ago, when Ben began attending therapy at Childhelp. Through many therapy sessions and the care of volunteers, Ben was able to talk about his experiences and overcome a lot of trauma that was preventing him from connecting socially with others. Instead of receiving bad grades, after a few months of therapy, he began to thrive in school and make friends. We are happy to say that Ben is now ten years old and is about to be adopted by a loving, supportive, and safe family.
United Way of Greater Knoxville is thankful to be able to support an agency that works hard to provide a safe place for abused and neglected children in our community to talk about their experiences and overcome their traumas. Childhelp and its volunteers are singularly dedicated to providing free and necessary therapy to children of abuse, working to ensure that their experiences will not define their mental health as they grow older. Change doesn’t happen alone. To live better, we must LIVE UNITED.