In Beaumont, Buckner offers Brandi a second chance
___By Russ Dilday
___Buckner News Service
___BEAUMONT--Brandi Granger admits her life has been hard.
___But it never was harder than when she showed up at Buckner Children's Home in Beaumont at age 24, homeless and separated from her husband and children.
___She'll also tell listeners that when she returned to Buckner, where she had resided for a short period, she began a re-examination and reversal of her life's choices. The result has been, in her words, a second chance to "get my head on straight."
___Granger's Buckner story began when she was 14. Abandoned by her mother, she had lived in numerous foster homes and emergency shelters. She was living with a 25-year-old man when she called authorities to report his physical abuse of her. Immediately, she was placed in the children's home.
___That, too, was not a pleasant experience. "I hated it," she said. "I was a rebellious teenager, breaking things, running away, mouthing off. I was horrible."
___She lasted eight months at Buckner, remembers Buckner Program Director Laura Daniel. "There was a lot of anger there. She had a lot of pain, a lot of issues with abandonment, so there were some incidents where at one point it got critical and we decided we needed to place her in a hospital."
___That was the last time she would reside at the Baptist children's home, but not the last time she would deal with Buckner.
___"We got a call one day. She had climbed on top of the roof of the hospital and told a police officer she wasn't going to come down until they gave her a cigarette," Daniel said. "So we went down to the hospital and talked with her and got her to come down."
___The next time Daniel saw Granger was when Granger appeared on her doorstep last year. "She was living out of her car at the time and needed help. Her two boys were living with their fathers, and she was separated from her husband and father of her second child. She had struggled with some drug abuse problems and had cleaned up, but she was still having trouble financially," Daniel recalled.
___Granger explained that while job-hunting she passed near the Buckner campus. Then she remembered how the Buckner staff had tried to help her years before. She made the turn into the campus, hoping to find a second chance.
___"I was at my lowest point," she said. "I didn't have my kids. I didn't know I was pregnant yet with my third son. I was in my car with no place to stay. None of my family would take me in. I couldn't stay anywhere other than rest stops. I couldn't even take a shower. I couldn't get anywhere. I was in a circle.
___"Buckner had helped me before, and I didn't want it. They were always so willing every time I messed up, ... and I did so many times. I would break windows, and the next thing you know they were still trying to help me. I figured they helped me when I didn't want it and that when I did want it, they would."
___She met with Randy Daniels, regional director for Buckner Children and Family Services of Southeast Texas.
___Daniels secured Brandi lodging and set her up in a new, innovative program designed to help children who have lived in foster or residential care make the transition to independence.
___"We helped her out, trying to get her back on her feet," said Laura Daniel. "We moved her into the YWCA and started arranging places where she could have visitation with her kids."
___The next hurdle was to help Granger set goals for her life.
___"She really wanted to be a better mother to her kids, to be more involved in their lives," Daniel said. "It was more supportive--just being there--than counseling. We told her, 'You can do this, and we're going to give you some things to help you get there.'"
___With Buckner's help, Granger studied for and earned her GED. Her next step, she said, is to enroll in college to study photography or floral design.
___Buckner's help also gave Granger time to mend her relationship with her husband.
___"Our relationship is more established because I have matured a lot more," she said. "My kids are in my life and that's good 'cause I get to see them grow up. Buckner has helped me with the thing I never had before--real family, real friends."
___"She's doing great," Daniel agreed. "But it's not a fairy tale story. They struggle every day. She calls and says, 'Sometimes it's so hard being poor.' He wa's putting himself through school and now has a job at Dupont. It's not easy for them, but she says, 'You know, I wouldn't trade for life with him and the kids.'"
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