LOST BOY STORY

Once upon a time, there was a happy young boy, who spent most of his time in the woods and running through the fields, just enjoying everything. His father was a hard man, who loved him, but didn’t know how to show it; while his mother took a lot of time with him, showed him a lot of love and how to have fun.  The little boy continued to feel pretty safe and happy until one day his father and mother started having problems. The little boy began wondering what was going on. He did not understand, so he started acting silly. All of a sudden his world did not seem so safe and fun. It seemed as if it were falling apart. Before too long, his parents’ relationship fell apart. When this happened, the little boy was very hurt. No one seemed to notice that the little boy was hurting so much. It was really awful. So the little boy tried to deal with it the best he could.   One day, the little boy began to learn, that it did not hurt so much if he took drugs or drank alcohol. It wasn’t long after that, he no longer felt safe, happy or hurt, because he spent most of his time high. Before long, it was as if, he wasn’t the same and his life wasn’t the same, and things got real crazy and out of hand. Before anyone knew it, that happy little boy was lost.

- Story written by a former client of Rick Emerson. 
Used here with permission.

At Emerson Centre, our hope is that by working together with partners in our communities, that we do not let a child that is hurting fall through the cracks.  We believe that if we come together collectively, we can help lost children before they are taken away from their families, communities, and futures that could have been.

Emerson Center is a holistic system of care, helping North Louisiana youth--the future of our communities--through counseling, mentoring, tutoring, rehabilitation, and training.  Emerson Centre began by counseling children on the issues that brought them before juvenile court, and Emerson Centre still provides this counseling that is often considered the last hope for these youths.

However through this work, the realization was made that there were holes in the educational and legal systems that were allowing children to slip through unnoticed until it was often too late to intervene.  Their needs were not being met, and many were impoverished with no resources to get help. Emerson Centre came to the conclusion that society was missing a step with these kids, and only early intervention would make a difference.

Emerson Centre expanded its focus out of a concern of the breakdown in many families today and how this breakdown affects children.  Children experience parental loss in many ways including divorce, death, careers, or emotional neglect.  Irregardless of what way the child experiences loss, this loss still results in a hurting and sometimes lost child.

Emerson Centre is built on the premise that any child that wants or needs help should be able to receive it.

We believe that there are many children today that are in pain and that they should be able to get the counseling and support they need before they get in trouble or break the law.  Our numbers continue to grow every year, but not because we believe that there are more children hurting with each passing year.  Rather, we believe that by working together with partners in the community, we are doing a better job at identifying the children that need help. 

At Emerson Centre, we believe that all the youths of our communities have potential; some just need resources that they cannot provide for themselves.  Our counseling programs, as well as our mentoring and tutoring programs, are designed to provide the resources that they need to heal and grow, as they are the future of our communities.