Student Advocacy Center of Michigan

One moment please...

This holiday season, too many children are living apart from their families, living in group homes and then going to school, only to be suspended and shunned. We can and must do better. 

Let me tell you a little bit about a resilient young person. Henry is a 13-year-old who loves Lego, Transformers and Marvel movies. He was first removed from his home at age 1, returned at 5, and then removed again at 7. He’s had 13 foster care placements and been in residential settings for the past 3 years. He was threatened with expulsion from a charter school and now attends a new school designed for his disabilities. He still faces suspensions and struggles regulating his emotions, a common challenge for children with trauma histories. 

When we asked Henry what he wanted you to know about him, he said, “I can be nice when I want to. It takes a while for me to build good relationships. It takes a while for me to trust people. I would like to make friends, but I don’t have many friends. I am very smart and sometimes I use my smartness for bad things. My teachers like me depending on how nice I am.”

His answer breaks my heart. No family. No friends. Sporadic adult support. You can imagine how this isolation is shaping his life, his beliefs about himself, and his future.

 

Your gift of support is needed now more than ever so we can disrupt this harmful path now.

This is the time of year to give generously to impact the lives of students like Henry. Your gift creates connection, consistency, and support in and out of school so Henry and students like him can survive and thrive.

Henry told us he feels “disappointed in himself” when the school suspends him. But here at SAC, we are disappointed in a world that layers such trauma, isolation, and disconnection onto a child. 

You know we are here for the children who are too often forgotten, excluded, ignored. They deserve love and connection, too. And with your support, that is what they will receive. Please give what you can today!

(If you prefer to donate through PayPal, click here.)

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