Parent Testimonies

A Note From Dawn Bauer, Advocate for The Family Hope Line

As a parent who has experienced the pain of out-of-home placement for my teen, I felt led to provide a ‘bridge of hope’ to families. It is our desire to literally guide you through the often overwhelming task of finding the appropriate placement for your struggling, troubled teen.

I share with you my testimony as HOPE to parents caught in the midst of the downward spiral of a teen’s poor choices and negative, even destructive, behaviors.There are also some testimonies from parents whose teens we have had the privilege of helping to find the right programs.

I am a single mother of three sons, 20, 19 and 17. In August 2007, I was faced with making the very difficult decision to seek an outside resource in helping with my youngest son who was age 14 at the time. He was and is a super bright, vivacious and loving child that was beginning to exhibit blatant disrespect for authority, dishonesty, verbal aggression, neglecting his school work, hanging out with the “wrong crowd”, and questioning his spirituality. In searching the internet, I discovered a boarding school for troubled teens website, made the call and enrolled my son after reading their material and comparing it to other facilities. This was one of the toughest decisions I had ever faced in parenting. I knew that to not be proactive, would only allow his situation to escalate and put him at further risk.

From the moment the admissions office answered the phone until the actual day of his enrollment, I felt complete relief for the first time in almost a year. It was such a God thing to hear someone at the other end of the phone respond completely empathetically, as if they knew exactly where I was. In addition, I would grow to understand, they did! My ultimate decision was based on the fact that this school not only provided a program that would help guide my son in being able to teach himself; but would also allow him to get to know himself better and utilize that information to make better choices for himself, and also guide our family through a restoration process. There have been challenges in my childhood and adulthood that has often made me wonder, “WHY?” I see now that I was being prepared for the awesome opportunity to bring awareness to families, facilities, churches and youth organizations regarding the help that exist for their troubled teen. Having gone through a difficult childhood and being faced with many tough situations as an adult has prepared me to truly understand where each teenager and parent is in their struggles and facilitate in finding a resolution.

It is my heart’s desire to truly be a bridge of hope for families that recognize that their child is struggling, making bad choices and needs an opportunity to make a change. I have worked with numerous children programs throughout my life, spent years volunteering as a CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocate in Georgia and actually served as an Admissions and Marketing Director for a Boarding School. In addition, I cannot neglect to mention the largest educational impact has come through the boot camp of parenthood!

In Hope,
Dawn Bauer
Advocate, The Family Hope Line

PARENT TESTIMONIES

“Dawn Bauer was the voice on the end of a phone line that listened, encouraged, advised and prayed with me. I was a very scared mother, looking for a lifeline to save my 15 year old daughter’s life. Dawn is equipped with the knowledge, co…mpassion and guidance that lead us to the program that would do exactly that – save our girl. Our daughter is now living a solid, productive life and moving towards an amazing future, and the reason is that very first contact with Dawn. Reaching out to strangers was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, not really knowing where to turn or what my options were. Dawn became our advocate in helping us to make a hard, yet truly life-changing decision, and I will be eternally grateful. Without a doubt, with her advocating for Family Hope Line, Dawn Bauer is doing exactly what God has called her to do. God Bless You, Dawn, and thank you!”
-Parent from Arizona

“If you are reading this your life has probably been turned upside down because your teenage daughter is out of control. It may seem that the emotional roller coaster makes it impossible to get clarity on what to do next. Dawn Bauer is a parent advocate and family life coach who helped bring clarity to our situation and supported us through the enrollment and transition of our daughter. On the day of enrollment Dawn led an intervention at our home and provided a peaceful transition process. Dawn’s effervescent energy, wisdom and experience in supporting our family were critical to making this process a success. Dawn continues to support our family as our daughter is in her third month and has made huge progress in a short period of time. Based on our past experiences and on going relationship with Dawn we can openly and whole-heartedly recommend Dawn to support other families in similar circumstances.”
-Parent from Florida

“In a note on my daughter’s student page at the boarding school she is attending, she stated ……’I need to work on having a better attitude’. Wow, as a mom, I was in tears over this self awareness! I know this is a great place for her and I want to say ‘thank you’ because if you weren’t consistent with my case I may not have pursued this program. In fact, I was hopeless. Now I believe that she has a chance to a healthy life. I’ll keep you posted as the day’s move forward. Thank you!!!!”
- Parent from California

“My wife and I were struggling to make a decision regarding our disrespectful and defiant 17 year old son. For the past year he had been less motivated, experimenting with drugs, and been causing chaos around our Christian home. We were given Dawn Bauer’s contact information and were immediately comforted and counseled by her. She spoke with empathy, compassion, and strength when talking to us about the benefits of a program she recommended. Within a matter of two days, and after several reassuring and prayerful calls with Dawn, we had decided to enroll our son.”
- Parent from Kentucky

“My name is Rebecca and I had the privilege of meeting Dawn Bauer when she helped place my daughter in a Christian boarding school. Dawn is a wonderful woman of God and she is a very loving, compassionate and caring person. She loved the kids and parents alike. She was very knowledgeable about the program and giving of information for us parents. Dawn is very easy to talk to and easy to get along with. Her passion for the kids is amazing and you will be blessed to have her working with you. She will be an asset to you…”
- Parent from Texas