A 12 year old runaway girl, homeless and facing indescribable danger and misery is now in her 3rd year of law school. And, she is not the only one to have gone through the Jeffrey Sitcov’s Doors of Change and come out, yes, changed.
Too many children have had to flee home to save their lives; they have run from savage abuse and neglect and from parents whose drug addiction and brutality obliterated any semblance of a nurturing home life. These children left homes that were treacherous, thinking that wherever they landed would be better, and, horribly enough, they found themselves in another hopeless reality. Survival was often finding what camaraderie appeared on the streets, dangerous and belittling sex for money, searching for warmth on cold nights and days spent wandering without trust or optimism. Suicide sometimes seemed the only hope of escape.
Some of the results were heartbreaking and seemed irreversible until Jeffrey Sitcov got to work. Jeffrey not only had the desire to do something. He had a plan; offering art and music as a comforting entry to a productive life. Being a prize winning photographer with a specialty in rock concerts, he had made friends. Billy Joel who came aboard to help, then came Sir Elton John. Yes, the Rocket Man! Others joined the force to entice children to enter the creative space offered to them. People go into neighborhoods of homelessness to pass out leaflets about what Doors of Change was offering, people put out their hearts and their hands to reach children who seemed unreachable. BTW, If you want to help, you can.
These had been children whose youth was ripped from them, who had abandoned school, who had no family, no shelter and no love. These were often children who had so little faith in humankind that they could look no one in the eyes. Until, thanks to Doors of Change, they trusted enough to let someone lead them into the art room to the table filled with supplies or to let them choose a musical instrument. Or both. For lessons. For joy. For friendship.
Listen to stories about children who found the strength to finish high school, to get into college, to graduate college with honors, to get through law school, to find jobs they like and most of all to find within themselves the enormously valuable people they are and make something beautiful of lives once seemed headed to destruction.
Take a look here to see the determination, light and love in Jeffrey’s eyes as he talks about his work. And, yes, one more exquisite example of what one person can do!