“I wanted to send you an email so that I could give you an update on how K. is doing.  It is hard to believe that we are talking about the same kid!  I really thought that our child was lost to us, that we would never again see the wonderful boy that we had been blessed with.  Each day for most of the past year was filled with fear and dread that we would receive a phone call from someone telling us that our son was dead. 



"We tried everything yet every avenue was wrought with frustration and failure.  Nothing was working, no one had answers, and all we found were dead ends.  Not only were we watching our son destroying himself, but our family as a whole was falling to pieces.  For months my husband and I were consumed with despair.  I broke down into sobs on an almost daily basis. It was truly the most difficult time of our lives.  As a parent, how do you stand by and watch your child slowly kill himself and not be able to help?  To live without hope is impossible. 



"But then by the grace of God, we found Saving Teens in Crisis Collaborative.  STICC provided us with nothing short of a miracle.  Not only did STICC have answers, but they also had the financial muscle to make the answers viable for us. 



"Not to say that it wasn't scary.  One of the hardest things we have ever had to do was to hand our son over to strangers and trust that it would be ok. The day that K. left for wilderness was a gut wrenching day.  I cried all morning.  And yet, when we reached Utah and handed K. over to transporters for the wilderness camp, we were flooded with a sense of relief for the first time in months.  In fact, for the first time in a long time, we had hope.  K. would be ok and he would be safe!  And after a few weeks of receiving letters from K. there was suddenly a shift in the tone of those letters; suddenly there were expressions of contriteness, accountability and love for his family.  What joy!!



“When finally we were able to speak with K., it was incredible.  I will never forget the first conversation.  We spoke with our son, our K., who we had not seen a glimpse of for the longest time.  Our child, who had disappeared, re-appeared.  I can’t even begin to describe the elation that we felt!  When I look back now, it is hard to understand how bleak things had become in our lives. 



"K. continues to work hard (as does the family) at his school and continues to achieve and to amaze.  It is wonderful to hear the pride in his voice over his accomplishments, as well as to hear of his dreams and ambitions (things he had not allowed himself to have before STICC gave him a way out), and even more importantly to hear the joy in his voice!



“We can’t thank you enough for all your hard work and more importantly for caring.  Thank you for helping to return our son to us.  Thank you for looking for a way out for families who are suffering.  Thank you for founding STICC and affording families with hope, with answers, with solutions. 



"STICC is truly a beacon in a dark, scary world.  I really believe that without STICC K. would be lost to us forever.  We hope and pray that STICC can continue to find support for the truly life saving work that it does so that other suffering families can also find a way to save their children and their families.



“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you.”