What's Behind It All

Behind everything that we do at OFY are four general principles that I firmly believe in. God blesses us all with the ability to do these four things. When working with children, our staff focuses their energy on developing these skills in the kids:

Learning how to relate to others by:

• Building social skills.
• Gaining friends.
• Keeping friends.
• Rebuilding trust in others.
• Practicing social skills in a safe environment.
• Being allowed to make mistakes in relationships.

Learning how to think and reason by:

• Reflecting on life’s past and current experiences.
• Examining their reactions.
• Thinking about their future.

Learning how to make good choices by:

• Identifying the keys elements of a problem.
• Considering the consequences.
• Knowing what is important to us.
• Making the right choice for all persons involved.

Learning how to develop our emotions by:

• Identifying our feelings.
• Understanding that expressing feelings is healthy.
• Expressing emotions in socially-acceptable ways.

At OFY we want to grow these abilities in children, while providing care, nurturance, and security in a family unit, which is the best agent of change. Young people deserve to live in an atmosphere that gives them security, safety, healing, opportunities to learn about people and building responsibility, and a place where they can make mistakes and take risks in order to grow.

When young people learn in a safe family setting, they can then venture out into contacts with others and begin to make their impact on society. Through education, vocational opportunities, and the development of interests and talents, our goal is to build up young people to be as confident, self-assured, and competent as they can personally be. This will provide them with more options, and the more options individuals have at their disposal, the better are the chances for them to succeed.