Came from a broken family, Chloe (alias) was arranged to stay in children’s home due to domestic violence. In her childhood, she was often resentful but did not know how to express. At one time, she was so depressed she lingered on the street and became a “street kid”. She was then referred to Evangel Children’s Home and her second life began for a brighter future.
Scars of Childhood Trauma
Chloe’s father passed away when she was in P.4 or P.5, thus becoming a single-parent family. Her family was quite patriarchal and the mental state of a family member was unstable, making it difficult to live together. Then she rather lingered on the street and became a “street kid”. She was alienated from her original family but was closer to her maternal half-siblings. In one family dispute, domestic violence sparked off. Fortunately, her teacher and school social worker intervened and she was urgently arranged to live in a small group home. Yet the unpleasant experience there led her lose faith in others. After that, she was referred to Evangel Children’s Home (ECH) and a new chapter began.
A New Home Full of Love
Chloe moved into ECH at her age of 15. She was grateful to a few house parents who cared about her, whom she could pour out her heart, who gave clear guidelines to rewards and punishments and were trustworthy. Passionate in art, Chloe learnt Zentangle art and playing drums in ECH. She loves singing and painting which helped her express her emotions. In the house gathering and regular prayer sessions, she gained deeper and mutual understanding of the other girls and encouraged each other. She was deeply impressed in a corporate volunteer activity when she handmade soap for a charity sale. From making, packaging, transporting to the sale, she devoted herself to the whole process. She took courage to sell them to the people around. They visited the corporate work environment after the sale. It was a good experience to her.
Knowing Herself and Plan for the Future
Chloe described herself as sentimental and only reports good news to others. In fact, her wounded heart is still aching and the unfair treatment of the original family still exists. Despite all these, she still hopes to do something for her family, be a “peacemaker” to mediate family disputes. To prepare for the future, ECH lined up a summer intern job for her at J-Hub – a hub for HK Jewelry Industry. Both the masters and staff were willing to teach her. Later, she enrolled in Tertiary Education of Art and Jewelry Design. She also worked as a part-time in ECH at the same time. Although the workload was quite heavy and the demand was high, it was very challenging. These include preparing and participating in various celebrations for the 65th anniversary of ECH. She took part in performing the 65th anniversary theme song and making of the MV with singer – Ms. Jade Kwan and the other residents, which became unforgettable memories here. The theme song lyrics represent her heart and soul. “I believe there will definitely be one day that I can fly up high to the wide blue sky”.
Fly High with Hope
After leaving residential home at the age of 18, Chloe transitioned into ECH Youth Home and received pre-employment training and plan for her future life. She plans to rent out with her friends after she has enough savings. For future careers, she hopes it will relate to arts and will educate the younger generations. She is willing to be a volunteer, contribute to ECH and side-by-side accompany the new generations here.
The all-rounded care of our residential home helped heal the broken heart of Chloe, allowing her to take root in this stable “Home”, transformed a street kid into a multi-talented young lady, equipped her to move forward bravely and fly with her dreams.
