A trip to the ER that I’ll never forget.

A while back, Lavette, Residential Associate, Team Lead in our Adolescent Residential program had to take her daughter to the emergency room. What came next was a pretty amazing story. 

“While we were in the emergency room, my daughter was being attended to by this wonderful young nurse. As we waited for the doctor to come in, I told the nurse that I had to check in at work to let them know I would be late. She asked, ‘Where do you work?’ I replied, ‘The Center for Great Expectations.’ She looked at me with this huge smile on her face and said, ‘I was there.’  

Curious, I asked her what she did when she was there. Her reply? ‘I had my baby there. I was a client.’

Not expecting that response left me speechless for a moment. Here I was face-to-face with one of our Adolescent program success stories. Someone who came to us as a pregnant teenager struggling with trauma, abuse or mental health issue, is now leading this wonderful, productive, full life as both a mother and a nurse.

After I overcame my initial shock, we began chatting about her time at CGE. She told me how nurturing and compassionate our staff was as they worked with her to help her. They taught her how to be a good mother and helped put her on the path towards her nursing career. 

We shared a lot of stories about CGE that day — as well as some tears, hugs and even a few laughs.

I couldn’t wait to get back to CGE to tell everyone this story. And as soon as I brought my daughter back home, that’s exactly what I did. I could see a great sense of pride and quite a few teary eyes as I retold my story again and again. To this day, I never get tired of telling it.

It’s a testament to the work we do here every day. It’s not easy. And we may never see the end results. But when we do, it’s magical.”