JE's Story

A Safe Place to Call Home

JE’s childhood was marked by significant trauma. He experienced sexual abuse and neglect from his family from a young age, and was removed from his home and placed in a foster home. In 2013, JE was referred to our Pathways transitional living program.

While living in our Pathways group home, JE attended Job Corp, achieved his GED and subsequently became a certified nursing assistant (CNA). He then moved into an apartment provided by Pathways, living there until May 2015 when he returned to Springfield, Mo., to be closer to his mom. Unfortunately, JE’s time with his mother was short-lived, as her mental health difficulties forced him to become the parent figure rather than the other way around. He moved into an apartment with a friend, then couch-hopped for a season before ending up homeless.

In December 2016, JE reached back out to us looking for a safe, stable placement with Pathways. At the time, he was working as a CNA, but was not making enough money to afford housing, vehicle expenses and insurance on his own. He relocated to Kansas City and began the next chapter of his life one of our apartments. Here, he found a new CNA job and a second job at a fast food restaurant to start saving up money. 

"JE is a kind and thoughtful person, and has a desire to enter the nursing field," shared Lori Wegman, JE's case worker. "The compassion that he has been able to maintain throughout his personal struggles is, to me, amazing."

JE is now in a program at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa, where he is working on obtaining a certification in either emergency medical services, phlebotomy or pharmacy tech. His long-term goal is get a degree in human services so he can support youth who have gone through similar traumas he has experienced. We’re honored to be a part of JE’s story, and to have been able to provide a safe place to call home when he needed it most.