Success Story

This is one of the many "Success Stories" available to share with your site employees during your campaign. Success stories, bullet points, etc. can be found at both the United Way website and the Community Health Services website (links to each in the right-hand column of my blog). You can also call your campaign representative (or me) for assistance.

Thanks for supporting United Way! Dave

School Community Intevention Program - Lincoln Medical Education Partnership

The following success story was shared by the SCIP Team Leader at one of the Lincoln Public High Schools.

“Late Friday afternoon (January 4, 2008) one of the office personnel brought a visitor to my classroom. I recognized him right away. He was a student at East High back when we were a 7-12 school. I had worked with this young man for six years, both in the classroom and with numerous SCIP interventions. He dropped out of school periodically, but finally graduated in 1990. During those years as a student at East, this young man struggled with alcohol and other drugs. Some years after he graduated, I bumped into him outside a restaurant and asked him what he was doing. He responded that he was drinking himself to death. So sad.

Well, this student came to see me January 4th. He came to let me know that he remembered that comment and he wanted me to know that he has been clean and sober for five years. He goes to NA and AA meetings, has a good job, and owns a nice house. He thanked me for all the conversations we had those many years ago. He didn’t forget anything and in his own words, ‘It took me awhile to figure it out.’ Change doesn’t always happen while students are still with us. The young man’s story is just a good reminder that what we do is so important and often pays off long after the kids have moved on.”

This success story is a fine example of how United Way is “investing in Lincoln’s future: our children.” Helping children and youth succeed through both education and mentoring are the focus areas within the Invested Outcomes established as priorities for United Way. It also illustrates how SCIP services fit into the JBC Behavioral Health Impact Area. We don’t often learn an outcome so many years after the services, but we know that behavioral health is slow to change. As we continually tell our SCIP Teams, intervention is a process, not an act. The process of continual interventions turned this young man’s life in the right direction, one of successful self-actualization.