Johnny C.
Learner (right, pictured with Ray, HCLN Chair Member)
I started coming because I had nowhere else to go and I thought that this would help me get my life on track. I wanted to get a better life for myself and to understand myself and other people. I wanted to live right and learn the things I was expected to know to take my place in society.
It wasn’t always easy. It took time for me to feel safe with me and to trust myself and the people around me. It is also difficult to get into a routine when you start, but you get into it and you get help with it from the teacher.
When I started, I wasn’t put together, I was a foolish mess doing anything I wanted. Now I have more respect for people and myself.
Before I didn’t really see other people, I just saw a dollar or a meal or just whatever they had that I needed. Learning makes me feel better with myself and stronger but it also helps me understand other people and the world around me. I can’t do what I used to do and just take, take, take. People don’t look at me like I don’t know what I am doing anymore.
I’m not finished, I still need to get more skills but my goals are simple. I just want to be happy with myself and to get along in life. I want to have good, sensible, friends. Maybe someday, I will have a house, car, and a little business helping other people out.