Then one day, help came in an unexpected way. At work, Scott was sharing their struggles with a coworker who suggested giving Fair Play Camp School a call. What did they have to lose? They got in contact with a family worker, Phil Hollinger.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” they recall. “Bradley was capable of being on his best behavior to control a situation. Taylor was afraid that he would be able to deceive Phil into thinking that everything was okay. We quickly saw that Phil could see through the smokescreen and understood what Bradley was trying to do.”
The Hawkins decided to give camp a try and Bradley agreed to go. In the fall of 2013, he joined the Pioneers. Soon after arriving, the group left for a five-day hiking trip. “That was the hardest thing I ever did physically,” Bradley recalls. “It showed me how out of shape I was.”
Bradley would experience many more difficult lessons in camp. “I thought it would be easier than it was,” he recalls.” He began to learn how to be open and honest, trust other people and accept responsibility for his actions. It was a difficult struggle at times and he reacted badly in many situations. For Bradley, hard physical work was very therapeutic.
In the next post: Going back home.