For the last year and a half, our family has gone pretty much radio silence. Almost two years ago, we witnessed firsthand our son’s mental health take a significant decline. Over the course of six months, we watched him grow angrier and angrier. We watched him begin to self-harm, to start making violent threats towards me. Brandon couldn’t leave us alone because of his growing threats towards me. We all felt like prisoners in our home. We tried counseling and changing meds, but nothing helped; in fact, it was getting worse. The cops had come to our house when he was out of control. We had taken him to the mental health hospital here in Guilford County multiple times with no real help. Until there was a night it got so bad that Brandon and I both knew he needed more help than we could give in our home setting, and it was time to seek outside placement. Thanks to our community, we were connected to a behavioral and mental health inpatient facility for teens with autism. At first, we saw Jayden begin to progress; he was able to come home for a long weekend, and then his progress took a major dive shortly after. His treatment has been in free fall ever since.

Over the last couple of months, the facility had begun advising us that we needed to find another placement for him, as there was nothing more they could do for him. At first, I was devastated - this was supposed to be our answer. He was supposed to get better and come home. But through prayer and time, we realized that if we had any hope of seeing Jayden get better, we needed to try something different. Here enters The North Carolina Boys Academy. We were visiting a friend’s church when we heard the story of a boy in their program. We are familiar with NCBA because it is a program of Teen Challenge, where Brandon works, and where we live. We immediately made an inquiry, and on Good Friday, we met with their Executive Director and toured the campus. Before we even entered the gates of the campus, we knew God was in this, and this was the next step for Jayden and our family. NCBA is a faith-based program, but they’re also trained in trauma-informed ministry, they specialize in rebellious, struggling teens AND their families. By the time we ended the tour, we knew that we would do whatever it takes to get Jayden on this campus. In the last year, Brandon and I have felt little hope. We’ve been weary and surviving, and being on campus that Friday, it felt like we could breathe again, like hope was springing up all around us.

We have one MAJOR hurdle in getting Jayden into NCBA, and that is the financial cost. It’s a 15-month program and is roughly $67,000. Truthfully, it’s money we just don’t have. But we know that the Lord provides. We believe the Lord has asked us to step out in faith and ask our community to fight with us for Jayden’s life. That fight comes first through prayers. Would you pray over Jayden and our family as we navigate and enter this next season, as we lean on the Lord for provision? The second is through giving. If you feel led, would you give towards our goal and help us get Jayden into NCBA? We need $17,000 to get him on campus, and the rest of the payments will then be monthly. Brandon and I will be sharing more about NCBA, what they do, and their approach, and just sharing about where we are in the journey. We would also love to sit down with you and tell you more about it and answer any questions. You can give using the link below.