Little by Little, She Found Her Way

When Hazel was having a hard day, it could be difficult to see a way through it. Frustration sometimes turned into conflict, and strong emotions could lead to choices that put her well-being at risk. What she needed was more than help getting through a difficult moment. She needed the chance to learn new ways of handling it—and people who would stay beside her as she did.

Hazel came to Casa Pacifica’s Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP), which provides intensive treatment and support to youth experiencing significant emotional and behavioral challenges. Before arriving at Casa Pacifica, she had been living in an emergency shelter and struggling at school and at home, particularly when faced with limits or expectations.

The work ahead would take time. It would also take consistency.

One of the people who became an important part of Hazel’s journey was Kelly Myers, Casa Pacifica’s Facility Management Supervisor.

Kelly offered a combination Hazel needed: compassion without backing away from expectations. When Hazel became frustrated or acted out, Kelly and the rest of the team helped her understand that her feelings were valid, while also showing her that there were safer, more effective ways to express them.

Just as important, they didn’t walk away when things got difficult.

They came back. They talked things through. They held the same boundaries. They continued to offer support.

Over time, that consistency began to build trust.

Hazel learned to use coping skills without needing staff to remind her. She became better able to accept limits and hear “no” without a big reaction. She began communicating what she was feeling and what she needed in the moment. Her physical aggression and self-injurious behavior decreased, and she grew more comfortable building relationships with staff, including those who weren’t her preferred caregivers.

The changes reached beyond her relationships at Casa Pacifica. Hazel’s grades improved, and she is now doing very well in school.

Now 16, she is attending school and beginning to have off-campus visits with her family. She is open to the possibility of a foster home and continues working toward her individual goals as she takes the next steps in her program. Her family has noticed the changes, too, particularly the decrease in her physical and verbal aggression.

For Hazel, progress hasn’t meant that difficult emotions have disappeared. It has meant learning that those emotions don’t have to determine what happens next.

“There were times when I was having a really hard day, but the staff didn’t give up on me. They kept coming back, talking with me and helping me work through things. I’ve learned that I can have big feelings and still make a different choice.”

That may be one of the most meaningful measures of healing: not the absence of hard days, but having more tools to move through them.

You helped make this possible. Your support of Casa Pacifica helps provide the treatment, relationships and consistent care that give young people like Hazel the opportunity to build trust, develop new skills and imagine what comes next. Progress like hers doesn’t happen overnight. It grows through the daily work of a team that keeps showing up, even when the work is hard.

For Hazel, Kelly’s steady presence became part of that process. And little by little, as others continued to believe in her, Hazel began to believe in herself.