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With a name like “Joy” you automatically expect a person with a face glowing with happiness. Instead, Joy’s face projected the misery and despair she felt. Thin from neglect and starved of education, at the age of 13 she lived with a mother who didn’t care for her. She went…

Bobby was reunited with his biological mother and half-siblings he’d never met. He is thrilled! Virginia Home for Boys and Girls addresses the problem of belonging. The youth we serve need to find a place where they belong and are seen so they can find hope and healing from their trauma.…

Imagine how good it feels to overcome a challenge. Now imagine you’re 12-years-old. “In the beginning, when I first came to John G. Wood School, I hated it. I felt like I could not do anything fun. I felt like everyone was against me. I felt like I didn’t belong…

JUSTIN’S STORY Virginia Home for Boys and Girls addresses the problem of belonging. The youth we serve need to find a place where they belong and are seen so they can find hope and healing from their trauma. They often feel like they don’t belong to a family or they…

Stephen was asked by his school teacher ‘what do you want your life’s legacy to be?” He replied with the statement that he wanted people to know that he’d been through a really tough life that most people couldn’t go through, but that he’d overcome it. Stephen entered the foster…

Dyana’s wish to be reunited with her siblings came true! More than three years ago, Dyana’s family was disrupted. The trauma of neglect and abuse left her and her three siblings with behavioral and emotional issues that required different levels of care. Like most youth in crisis due to family…

Imagine the sound of a large, iron bell ringing in the distance on a cold and snowy day – not once, but 27 times. Any time a loud bell on our campus can be heard ringing, you can expect that a happy occasion of some kind just occurred. Libbie was…

Imagine that you live in poverty. Now imagine that what little you own just went up in flames due to a house fire. This is what happened to Eric and his mom. They were left homeless and had no other family support. Unfortunately, mom found drugs as a way to…

Can you imagine being fully independent by age 18? Shana didn’t choose her childhood. She was born into a family of illegal substance abusers. Even her aunts, uncles, and grandparents were well-known in her small town for drug crimes. There were no extended family members to save Shana. With younger…