Sterling F.

AMIkids White Pines

When my mom was pregnant with me, my father got incarcerated. When I was born, my mom didn’t have enough money to pay for the both of us and we moved in with my grandmother. After living there for six years, my mom and I moved in with my stepfather, and we continued moving and moving. I struggled to get used to continuously changing surroundings and environments, and became very angry.

With such an unstable home life, I became dependent on my environment, struggling with peer pressure and ending up in the wrong crowd. I started getting involved in drugs and gangs which led to getting into trouble in school.

When I arrived at AMIkids, I had the mindset that I was just going to do my time and go back home. After two weeks in the program, I knew I would be changed forever. I was pushed to strive to be the person they knew I could be. They addressed my anger issues, how to hold it back, and that I didn’t have to react to everything. Through skill streaming at the program, I learned how to deal with peer pressure and to be a leader in a good way. I learned respect and that I can have just as many friends doing things the right way instead of in a negative way.

AMIkids has helped me in more ways than anyone could imagine, and I am excited to fulfill my potential and achieve a bright future.