Far too often, the young people at Mercy Home have been forced to grow up too quickly. They have taken on adult burdens—burdens that affect their ability to do well in school or prepare for successful futures. This happened to Jeremy.

Jeremy didn’t like telling other people about where he lived. And he never invited friends over. He didn’t want anyone to find out that he shared a tiny, one-bedroom apartment with his parents, older sister, and her son. The apartment was old, and it often didn’t have power or running water because his parents couldn’t afford to pay the bills. And his dad was rarely sober—and rarely left the couch.

In addition to being embarrassed about his home life, Jeremy also carried the tremendous burden of trying to care for his family. His mom worked several jobs and wasn’t home enough to clean the house or cook meals. If Jeremy didn’t grocery shop, there would be no food in the apartment. And sometimes his sister would stay out all night with her friends, leaving Jeremy to care for her son.

With so many responsibilities, Jeremy didn’t have time for things that other boys his age did, such as doing homework or spending time with friends. He didn’t get good grades because there was no time for homework. Sometimes he was so tired at school that he would fall asleep in class. His teachers quickly wrote him off as a bad student, someone who wasn’t interested in learning.

But even though Jeremy was doing so poorly in school, he had dreams of going to college and becoming a lawyer. As he got older, he began to lose hope that dream would ever come true—he didn’t know how he would ever catch up in school, much less get into a good college. Jeremy hit a low point when he failed so many classes that he had to repeat his sophomore year of high school. He considered dropping out of school altogether to get a job and support his family. He knew his family needed the help and didn’t see the point of trying to be successful academically anymore.

But then a guidance counselor at school called Jeremy into her office to talk about things that were affecting his performance at school. He felt he had no choice but to explain how he was responsible for so many things at home that there was simply no time for schoolwork.

He was worried that the guidance counselor would be angry at him for not doing well in school. But instead, she told him about Mercy Home—a place where he wouldn’t have to worry about caring for a home and could instead focus on his grades and just being a kid.

At first, Jeremy wasn’t interested. He felt too guilty about not being there to help his mom to consider living at Mercy Home. But when he told his mom about his conversation with the guidance counselor a few days later, she encouraged him to give it more thought. Jeremy realized that the only way he could turn things around was to give Mercy Home a try. After a visit to our Home, he decided to move in.

Since coming to Mercy Home, Jeremy feels like a burden has been lifted from his shoulders. He has been working hard with his tutors to catch up on all he missed in school. He has built friendships with the other boys, and even had the opportunity to get involved in extracurricular activities at school.

Coming to Mercy Home has been truly life-changing for Jeremy, and it is because of the support of friends like you! Thank you for your friendship to our kids.

A special partnership for the sake of Mercy’s kids and for our televised Sunday Mass

You can make a difference in the life of a troubled child. Fr. Scott needs Partners to pray for our kids at Mercy Home–and also faithful Partners to help broadcast Sunday Mass at Mercy Home.

The boys and girls of Mercy Home are very proud of the difference they are able to make just by sharing their time and heart with others. None of this would be possible without our kind, faithful supporters, for not only sharing their friendship but for also setting an example of generosity and compassion for them to follow. During this month, please keep the young people of Mercy Home and all of our generous benefactors in your thoughts and prayers.