Charlie’s story isn’t the kind we’re used to hearing during the holidays. While most of our children lack fond memories of the season, Charlie was robbed of them entirely when his mother and grandmother—the only family he had—passed away on Christmas Eve.
Charlie’s mother had rushed out the door that evening to pick up his grandmother for midnight mass. Charlie, 9 years old at the time, was bubbling with excitement for the holidays. He begged his mother to drop him off at church on her way, so that he could delight in the pre-mass Christmas carols.
But when the evening’s mass came to a close and his mother and grandmother were nowhere to be found, Charlie began to panic. He ran all the way home in the snow, just to find that the house was just as his mother had left it: an empty driveway, a locked front door, and an unlit Christmas tree.
He spent all evening waiting by the front door. And when a knock finally came on the other side, it wasn’t his mother. It was a police officer.
When the officer broke the news to Charlie that his mother and grandmother had died in a car accident the night before, he was in such shock he refused to listen any further.
But two years, and several foster families later, Charlie can still remember every word that officer said to him. Since that day, he had been taken from his home and shuffled from one unwelcoming foster family to the next.
He started missing school, lost interest in his hobbies and stopped talking to his friends altogether. Charlie’s school counselor tried to help, working with him for longer than most students and even helping him with his schoolwork. But then, this caring woman did something that would change the course of Charlie’s life forever—she contacted Mercy Home.
At Mercy Home, Charlie found a place that made him feel safe. A place that offered him love and the family environment he’d lost not long ago. We helped him to take pride in himself—encouraging him to invest himself in his education and work toward the bright future we knew he was going to have.
If you’d like to help children like Charlie regain their footing in life, please make a donation today. Any gift you share will bring joy to our Home this Christmas season.
Please note: Because we care deeply about protecting the privacy of our boys and girls, we have changed the name used in this story, as well as certain identifying details.
