Our Stories

“I figured by now, since 1995, since River’s Crossing closed and Brook Run closed — I thought surely that everybody, at least in Georgia, lived at home,” says Lori Bagnell. In 1995, Lori’s son, Chase, was the first child in Georgia to leave an institution (River’s...

Most mothers have a common trait that bonds them to motherhood: they want the absolute best life has to offer for their children.  At least that’s how Laurie Faulk feels about her son, Don. Don has been Laurie’s pride and joy since he was born twelve years ago in...

Six-month -old, brown-eyed, dark-haired, Emily (not her real name) was found all alone in a hospital in Macon, Georgia, five years ago. Doctors said that she had “shaken baby syndrome,” which resulted in brain damage, blindness, and seizures. Lorri Fischer, an...

Maurice Walker is 19 years old and he has been institutionalized for more than a third of his young life. His grandmother, Emma James, is his biggest champion in the outside world. She feels that Maurice is caught in a system that she can’t understand. He is “a...

Meet the Jenkins family: Frank, Cindi, and their two daughters, Jené,19, and Jayme, 12. They live in Harlem, GA, with their three cats and two dogs. Frank drives trucks currently, but served in the Army before moving to Georgia in 1995. Cindi works at JC Penney in...