{"id":148,"date":"2023-05-11T14:45:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T18:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brookwoodflorida.org\/?page_id=148"},"modified":"2023-05-11T17:13:32","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T21:13:32","slug":"selenas-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/brookwoodflorida.org\/selenas-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Selena’s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

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MY NAME IS SELENA<\/h2>\n

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\"Selena'sWhen I was nine years old, I came home from school and found my mother unresponsive on the living room couch. Unable to wake her, I called 911. Within minutes the police and paramedics arrived and took my mother away.<\/p>\n

A DCF worker came and took me to my grandmother and her new husband whom I had never met. Things were ok, until my grandmother died in a car accident when I was thirteen. I remained in the custody of my step-grandfather.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the death of my grandmother, I started skipping school, smoking marijuana, self-mutilating, and running away. Eventually, my step-grandfather could not handle my behavior and placed me in foster care.<\/p>\n

I moved around a lot while in foster care. I went to shelters, foster homes and group homes. Each time I would run away or act out in order to get kicked out.<\/p>\n

I came to Brookwood at the age of sixteen, after 15 failed placements. I continued to runaway several times from Brookwood. Each time I was recovered and returned to the home. I was Baker Acted 3 times and each time I was released I returned to Brookwood. One day I asked why I had not been kicked out yet. I was told that I was worth fighting for and that they were not giving up on me. No one had ever cared like this before. I began to open up in counseling and built a rapport with my counselor. I disclosed that I had been sexually abused by my step-grandfather starting at the age of 12 and it continued until he gave me up at fifteen years old. I had never told my story to anyone else. I finally had the support that I needed to deal with my past and focus on a future. My step-grandfather was eventually arrested and sent to prison.<\/p>\n

Selena stayed at Brookwood until she was 19 years old. By then she had completed high school, started a full-time job, and enrolled in nursing school. She currently works as a registered nurse in the neonatal unit of a local hospital and is happily married with two children.<\/p>\n

Selena regularly keeps in touch, and never fails to thank our staff for the life-changing help she received at Brookwood. We couldn\u2019t be more proud of Selena and all that she\u2019s accomplished!<\/p>\n

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PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO PROVIDE A SAFE HAVEN FOR GIRLS LIKE SELENA.<\/h2>\n

Your donations can help girls like Selena in many ways.<\/p>\n