Grady’s parents both abused drugs and fought violently. His mother suffered from chronic mental illness. When he was just 5-years-old, she attacked him with a baseball bat. At the hospital, the doctors determined that he was probably born with complete hearing loss. By the time he was six, he entered the first of many foster homes.

With his hearing loss, mild mental developmental disabilities, learning delays and a slight speech impediment, he was painfully self-conscious. By the time the Kerr counselors saw him at 16, his future was very black indeed. He had spent time in juvenile detention for sexual abuse, and he was unpredictably violent. He came into Kerr’s Intensive Treatment Program straight from the hospital, where he had been admitted for attempting to hang himself.

The Kerr program was a new world for Grady. He was evaluated and put on medications to help him climb out of the deep depression. With adults who provided safety, structure and a predictable routine, he started attending school every day and the art therapy program weekly. Slowly, he started to calm down.

 “It was a slow process,” says his therapist. “He was working to overcome a horrendous childhood, and he was very motivated. He learned to speak up for himself in therapy, and he loved art therapy.”

During Grady’s year at Kerr, his father went into drug rehab and became an active partner in Kerr’s program for Grady, participating in family counseling and working toward a time when he and his son could be in a good relationship. Today, Grady is living in a foster home with parents who understand his challenges and can give him support on his way to independence.