Sasha Bruce Youthwork has been combating youth homelessness for more than 40 years. We were reminded of this recently when the Director of our shelter was slipped the following note during a training on positive youth development*:
Sir:
When you said you work for Sasha Bruce it brought back memories. In 1996 my son age 14, stood 6 feet 1 inches tall and stood on the corner of L and Delaware Ave. SW. He sold weed laced with cocaine to two undercovers. The police took him in and Sasha Bruce picked him up. He had to participate in a 6 month program, and the end result – his record was sponged because it was his first time getting in trouble, and he completed your program. His counselor’s name was Elton. Elton followed my son until he graduated from Temple University. He attended his graduation. 23 years later, my son is a cyber space architect engineer. Your program gave so much hope to our situation, along with my prayers. I will always be grateful to the Sasha Bruce Program. If you get a chance, you can Google him. Elliot D. Franklin.
Thanks again for all you do. Marissa Franklin
- Note: names have been changed in order to protect the author’s (and her son’s) confidentiality.