The Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes make a long-term impact on the lives of the children we serve. I reflected on my 20+ years of working with the Youth Homes and the number of young people I have had the honor and privilege to know and advocate for over that time. Then came the realization that while my time as part of the Youth Homes has been long, it is less than a third of the time that this organization has been positively impacting the lives of young people. The Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes have a long and distinguished history of over 60 years as one of the leading child care organizations in Georgia.
I have often been asked, “How do you define success in your job?” There are many answers, but one of the best barometers is the success of our children as they work their way through our program. There are many ways to evaluate the success of a young person. Some of these successes, such as a passing grade on a report card, may seem trivial to many, but to us they represent the greater idea of what is possible for a young person given the love, support and opportunity available through the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes. Sometimes that first-ever passing grade can turn into earning a medical degree and becoming a family physician, or earning a graduate degree and building a successful career.
One of the best things has been to be able to participate in the lives of our residents as they move from being a child in one of our programs to success as an adult. I get to meet spouses and children, and I have a board in my office with pictures of “grandchildren” that our former residents have been kind enough to come back and share with me and our staff. These pictures are a physical reminder of the importance of the work that we do, and we know that if we do that work correctly, we are helping with generational change for these families.
The true measure of the success of our program is not the fact that these people have achieved success in their adult lives—which is tremendous!—but that they are compelled to come back and share that success with us and to thank us for helping them be where they are in their lives. Those moments reaffirm to us that we are doing work that truly matters, not only to our kids but for many generations to come.
I am grateful that we can share some of these success stories in these pages with those who have a hand in making them possible. Again, thank you sheriffs and our many supporters. You enable the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes to be able to serve our children in a way that not only makes their lives better now, but also positively impacts their families for generations to come.
Shaun Eilders
Director of Child Care and Boys Ranch Resident Director