Working With Trauma
As a Global Health Corps fellow over the past year, I have been serving at Covenant House New Jersey. So far, it has been an incredible experience. I was astonished and indeed somewhat dismayed when I came to the United States from Kenya and observed that many families here live in poverty and face homelessness — in some of the most unimaginable conditions — despite the fact that the country is said to be “developed”. This reality goes against my belief in human dignity and self determination for all individuals. It is a violation of basic human rights to shelter, food and safety.
According to the 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, for every 10,000 people in the United States, 17 people were experiencing homelessness in 2017, and an average of 553,742 people were homeless on a single night. The report also estimates that over two million young people will face homelessness in 2018 alone, 40% of whom will be under the age of 18. Covenant House provides an opportunity for youth between the ages of 18–21 to come off the streets and receive basic needs and comprehensive services. Most importantly, these youth are greeted by a community of people that wraps around and supports them. Their transformation is a joy to witness. For the first time in their lives, many of the youth who come to us begin to believe in themselves and see the possibility of a stable, happy and productive future.
“Most importantly, these youth are greeted by a community of people that wraps around and supports them. Their transformation is a joy to witness. For the first time in their lives, many of the youth who come to us begin to believe in themselves and see the possibility of a stable, happy and productive future.”
Part of my role at Covenant House is to conduct a Physical Wellness Assessment and establish important initial relationships with the male-identifying youth. I then help them work on their health to ensure their goals are met. My co-fellow and I are also in charge of Health Programming which is meant to nurture, encourage and support our clients’ physical wellness and emotional development and, more generally, contribute to positive health outcomes for them. Jay Mo* and Karim* are among the many clients with whom I have had the pleasure of working.
Jay Mo had spent barely a week at Covenant House when he reported that he could now have six or more hours of uninterrupted sleep. He said that before coming to “the Cov” (as we affectionately call it) he had faced restless nights full of nightmares and horrible thoughts. He had even considered taking his own life as a permanent solution to his problems.
Jay Mo never set his eyes on his parents. He had seen poverty firsthand, having grown up with his grandmother, whom he said was growing older and was not able to work her two jobs as she used to before. As his grandma’s income declined, Jay Mo dropped out of school and started doing odd jobs which were mostly “under the table” to make ends meet. The jobs, he said, were not paying well; in fact, in some instances, he wasn’t paid at all. He became rude and angry at anything and everything, and he resorted to using marijuana as his only remedy. He claimed it made him feel “good, on top of the world, and stress-free.” As a teen, he explained, he didn’t know how to deal with the situation at hand, so he used the drug as a coping strategy. Before long, he was laid off from his jobs because of his “lack of commitment and responsibility.”
With a lot of free time on his hands, Jay Mo joined “The Star Gang” in the neighborhood and started selling drugs around the corner and stealing from people. The gang had offered him dramatic and ambitious plans that promised quick solutions to his problems. His friends lured him into the gang because, to him, they seemed successful. They had guns and money, and they were living an admirable lifestyle. In his own words, Jay Mo thought they were “tough and fearless.” And that’s how he always wanted to be in life — fearless. However, Jay Mo had other thoughts; he started to become less concerned with maintaining a flashy lifestyle and more worried about being incarcerated. Soon enough, he realized that if he continued, he would likely be arrested and locked up as some of his close friends had been. It was then that he had taken it upon himself to start thinking seriously about his life and what his future would look like.
Jay Mo decided he needed to do something urgently. He made up his mind to take the necessary steps to fulfill his purpose in life. He said he had always thought of himself as a hardworking and ambitious young man. At Covenant House, he said, he was ready to propel his life in a better and more focused direction. With the help of the organization, Jay Mo hopes to go back to school, complete his education, and find a stable job. He wants to save money and move with his grandmother into a good house and support her. He wants to be around positive people who can help him grow as a person.
Karim’s story shares some similarities with Jay Mo’s and the stories of many other young people. He wasn’t spared by the sometimes harsh, even ruthless, world. Karim narrated his ordeal to me vividly, occasionally wiping tears from his eyes. His was a life of dreams shattered right from birth. He had been given away for adoption by his mother, and even though his adoptive parents treated him fairly well, he felt they could have done a better job. He still recalls his first encounter with his mother — someone who gave life to him, but who he barely knew. He remembers how he had opened his mouth to talk with her, to ask her where she had been, and why she didn’t care for him at all. Instead, however, he mumbled a few words, asking her how she had been. That was it. He didn’t have anything else to say.
Then, one seemingly bright morning on his way to school, Karim received a phone call from his sister. His adoptive mother was no more. He mentions how, in a span of seconds, he thought he had lost the very things he was holding onto in life. It meant he and his siblings did not have a place to live, and they were not assured of basic human needs. It was the perfect opportunity to make good on his difficult past and mend the broken relationship with his biological mother, whom he said was a heroine addict who did not care much for anything in this world, including her own children.
As fate would have it, after only a month into his new relationship with his mother, she, too, passed on. Karim was confused as never before. For once, he thought, he didn’t belong to this world, as the world had turned its back on him and only showed him its cruelty. He felt that he had to deal with a lot at only 17 years, and resolved that he too, needed help. That is how he found his way to Covenant House.
Karim has discovered boxing as his passion. He says that through this sport he is able to channel his anger and frustration, not to people but to the punching bags. He also hopes to finish college and join an institution of higher learning for his undergraduate degree.
There are many other teenagers and youth who have been traumatized from adverse childhood experiences. What keeps them going is resilience that allows them to stay hopeful and take action even when facing the worst of adversities. In a bid to find their place in this world, the youth at Covenant House have fallen several times but still have gotten back to their feet, dusted off their clothes, and continued with the journey.
“To ensure that youth dealing with trauma can live healthy, fulfilled lives, they need guidance, understanding and support from the people around them. This is our health intervention, and this is part of what it means to lead with love.”
My experience at Convenant House has helped me understand how direct service fits in to transforming health systems. More often than not, the young people we serve are faced with challenges that they have not been equipped to handle in a healthy way. They avoid these challenges or resort to behaviors that are mostly harmful to them and to people around them. They need support from those who will genuinely listen to their problems with unconditional love and absolute respect in order to help them overcome those traumatic experiences. To ensure that youth dealing with trauma can live healthy, fulfilled lives, we need to provide them with guidance, understanding and support. This is our health intervention, and this is part of what it means to lead with love.
*These names have been change to protect these clients’ identities.
Juma Brian Omala is a 2017–2018 Global Health Corps fellow at Covenant House in the United States of America.
