Gillis Stories - Rachel's Story
Rachel lived with her two children – Carrie, 2, and
Mary, 4 - in rural Missouri. One day Carrie hurt her
knee and was taken to the emergency room for treatment.
The doctor gave Rachel information and medication to
help Carrie’s injury heal. As the injury was not
healing, Rachel returned to the hospital four times. The
doctor accused her of not following instructions and of
not caring properly for Carrie. Rachel became irate as
she had followed all of the instructions given.
The hospital reported Rachel’s case to Children’s
Services as a possible child abuse situation. A
Children’s Services social worker finds that the house
does not have running water or gas. It was recommended
that the children be removed for their own protection.
The court contracted with Gillis to do an assessment.
Our case manager visited the home and determined that it
was spotless. “The house was cleaner than mine when my
mother-in-law visits.” To get water the family carried
two five gallon jugs of water from a neighbor’s. This is
how they bathed, washed clothes, did the dishes, and
cleaned the house.
The cause of the lack of water and gas was two-fold: the
landlord refused to fix the problems, and Rachel was too
proud to apply for aid. Gillis staff arranged for Rachel
and the two girls to move into subsidized housing.
As for Carrie’s diagnosis – it was incorrect. Rachel had
been caring properly for Carrie, but the doctor had not
prescribed the right course of treatment. When the
treatment was changed, Carrie’s injury healed.
Another positive to this story. In helping Rachel
resolve some of her problems through mentoring and
training, it is hoped that the long-term family history
of poverty will be broken.
Stories
Alyssa came to Gillis School when her home school district had exhausted all their options. She frequently ran from staff members, made inappropriate comments and was very shy and withdrawn...
Read full storyGillis News
As part of their community service hours at Rockhurst
High School, two young men volunteered at Gillis,
working with the residential students. One day they
looked around and realized that the common areas were
not what they, as “typical” teenagers, would like to
look at every day. So, they undertook a cottage
renovation project.
READ MORE
Gillis is part of Cornerstones of Care, a partnership of agencies providing therapeutic treatment services for children and families.
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