Young and Brave

Kathy

Kathy, age 10, and her sister, age 6, first came to Vera Lloyd for 11 months after being removed from an abusive home environment. Their mother used crystal methamphetamine, marijuana, and was physically abusive. When Kathy’s teachers saw her bruises, they reached out to the Arkansas Department of Human Services.

The sisters were eventually reunited with their mother, after she completed a rehab program, but she didn’t stay clean. The girls were moved to a foster and home and eventually to an aunt and uncle. Kathy returned to Vera Lloyd in 2014, knowing it would be a better place for her.

“I knew everybody here would be here for me. They always have been,” she said. “When I first got here, I was depressed, I had a bad attitude. I missed my family. Even then I thought being at Vera Lloyd was the best decision for me.”

When Kathy told her aunt she wanted to live at Vera Lloyd, her aunt bought her a plane ticket and terminated Kathy’s rights to speak to her sister.

With help from the tutor provided by Vera Lloyd, Kathy has done well at Monticello High School. After graduating, she’s planning to attend the University of Arkansas at Monticello and major in early childhood education. Kathy’s mother is completing an eight-year prison sentence because of drug and hot check charges. She hopes to reunite with her mother once she is out of prison.

“Vera Lloyd has helped me come a long way. I used to throw objects, temper tantrums, I was disobedient,” she said. “Everything changed when Deverick became my house parent. He worked hard with me. He encouraged me to prove people wrong about me.”