Don’t Believe Everything You Feel

I’m a house parent on property of a transitional living facility—Hillcrest Platte County (HPC). We have several young adults in our program ranging from the ages of seventeen through twenty-two. These young adults have found themselves at HPC for various reasons, but I’m glad that each one is here.

Recently, we did an activity that we’ve never done before. We transported them all in a van and took them to Barnes & Noble. There, we directed them to take an hour to search the books and select the one they wanted us to purchase for them. Normally, we would go to a library which is free but there is something unique about being able to get something new and call it your own; this can help create healthy habits.

We gave the young adults the guideline that the book had to teach them something and could not just be a piece of fiction or a comic book. Then, we set them loose in the store. The young adults wandered around, thumbed through pages, read, compared, and contrasted. Ultimately, they landed on their books.

When we arrived back at housing, we had the young adults explain why they chose the literature that they did. There were wonderful motivations behind each decision.

I truly wonder what will be the result of this activity in their lives, five to ten years down the road. While working with this population of young adults comes with its challenges, moments like these will always put a smile on my face as I watch them dream of what could be.

>About the Author
Theo Davis is a House Parent at Hillcrest Platte County.