Sanctuary from Harm - 11. Sanc Chapter 11

“Ok, we will give it a try, but if we want out, we want to be able to leave, without any interference,” Ezekias, one of the older boys stated, “good that we will agree to” Scott responded happily. “Ok, let me explain to you guys a few procedures that you will go through. Firstly, the Discovery project is supported by a board of trustees, so everything is on the level, both legally and financially, and the location is kept as low key as possible, to guarantee all young people are safe while staying with us.

To make sure that everyone is treated equally, you will be asked to take a shower and change into the clothes and shoes that we provide, and have a medical examination to check that you are healthy when entering the project. Anything of yours that you bring with you will be stored away until it is time for you to leave” Charles said and he turned to Nathan to continue.

“The time frame for your stay is set at three months, and during that time you will be given a bed, clothes, food, counselling if needed, education classes, and activities to do, there are a number of sporting activities available, including basketball, tennis, and indoor soccer, also recreation activities like billiards, darts, table tennis, a fitness gymnasium and a climbing wall. The only main rules are that you respect and listen to the staff and that verbal or physical abuse will not be tolerated.

We will also endeavour to find you some work and a permanent place for you to live, with the support network for you to cope with living independently if you are 18 or older, or living with a foster family until you reach 18 years. If at any time that things do not work out for you, due to various circumstances, then you will be able to contact us and we will assist you with any issues that you are facing” Nathan said.

“Wow, this sounds amazing, you are being serious, because I have never heard of anything like this before?” Toby, the other older boy asked, “Yes we are honestly serious, this place does exist, and no one has ever heard of it because we want to keep it low key, although a recent event nearly brought that to an end, as a neighbouring abandoned warehouse was on fire,” Scott mentioned.

“Yeah, we heard about that, the talk around the streets is that it was a gang was trying to set up a base in there, and they set up a campfire to keep warm, and it got out of hand,” Liam the youngest of the four said. “Interesting, thanks for that information, I will pass it onto the police, and no I will not use your name, I will just tell them it was an anonymous tip,” Nathan responded.

“Ok, so what happens next, when do we go to this place/” Ezekias asked. “Tonight, if you wish, we can be back here saying at 9 pm to collect just the four of you, and maybe next week we will have another four join you at the project,” Charles replied. I had just come back from collecting Jonah from my parent’s place when the Tarago arrived at the admin centre, and together we headed into the project, with Nathan indicating that they will be picking up the first four in just under two hours’ time.

Making sure that the beds were ready for their arrival, we decided to give them a bedroom each, since they are the first to enter the project, but they will be told that they will have to share their room, once the project gets busier. Nathan updated me on the information about the fire, and I sent a text to Greg Parker, to let him know of this new information, so he can pass it onto his partner, Detective Julian Band.

I had decided to remain at the project since I now have Jonah to look after, and I asked Charles, Nathan and Scott to go and collect the first four clients, also because, Jonah and I would be heading out early in the morning, to collect Giles from hospital and visiting Carter, who will be joining us a lot quicker than expected, as he was recovering well from his illness.

Before the others set off to collect the first clients, I asked them to sit down for a brief discussion. “I have decided what to do with the additional space that we have in the other warehouse,” I began which got everyone’s attention, and I grinned at how alert they suddenly became.

On the top floor, on the right or Eastern wing above the soccer pitch, I have decided that we will have a 40 or so seat cinema/ lecture room, with a huge screen and a small stage area, to make announcements or give a lecture, whatever the case may be, and on the west wing will be the new executive apartment, which will give me and Jonah a bit more space and be a little further away from the main living areas.

The space above the loading bay, changerooms and storerooms, will become a four-suite staff accommodation area, with bedrooms the same size as those in my current apartment, plus a large lounge room. What is currently my apartment, will become a two-suite staff accommodation area.

What is currently the staff accommodation will become a six-bedroom youth leader accommodation area, for clients who we will ask to remain with us to work with future young people, as I think that they will bring us a lot of real-life experience that will benefit everyone that works and stays here,” I announced.

“Well, I think that is a brilliant idea, and well done for thinking of it, but who will be the lucky ones that will be living closest to the clients?” Scott responded, and the others nodded their heads in agreement to the first part of the statement and looked at me in eagerness to my response to the question.

“Hmm, a tricky question that one, I will have to think about that,” I replied grinning, and the others just groaned, “put us out of our misery, please?” Nathan groaned, and I chuckled at his response. “Ok, I guess it will have to be on a monthly roster system for the first few months until we can build up our staff numbers, but it will also depend on what our finances can handle from the Board of Trustees, we still haven’t had a meeting to work out our annual operational budget yet, but I expect that to take place fairly soon,” I answered.

“Ok, now for tonight and tomorrow, we will have the lads processed as we had mentioned to the lads earlier this afternoon, and once they have had some supper, we will let them settle into their new living quarters. Tomorrow we will get them up at 8 am, so they can have a little sleep in, with breakfast at 8.30 am.

After breakfast, they can relax a little bit till 9 am when we will start orientation for them, giving them a full tour of both buildings, except for staff accommodation areas, and areas that are currently empty. I suggest we end the tour at the basketball courts, where we can have a bit of a basketball match to break some of the tension, that may be building up with the clients by that time, Nathan announced.

“Sounds good, right, you better get going to collect the clients, don’t forget that Jonah and I are heading off to the hospital while you are having breakfast, and we will be bringing Giles back with us, and Carter will be discharged two days later, so we will say goodnight, and hope that all goes well this evening” I said, before standing and heading for the apartment, where Jonah was reading a book in the lounge room.

“Are you still ok with having Giles and soon after, Carter, sharing our apartment?” I asked my son, “Yes sure Dad, it will be great to have some guys to hang around with, even if they are a little bit older than me,” Jonah replied, and he stood up and gave me a hug, before saying goodnight, and heading to his bedroom.

I must have been very tired and fell asleep, as I didn’t hear the team and the new clients arrive, as I awoke in the morning when my bedside clock sounded at 7.30 am. Once Jonah and I had completed breakfast and cleaned up our small kitchen area, we set off out of the apartment.

“Holy cow, hey guys, come and check this out?” I heard one of our new clients call out in surprise, “Wow that is so awesome” another wants responding. “Yes, it is, and you get to see it every day, now if you guys are all dressed and ready, we will head downstairs to the dining room for breakfast,” we heard Nathan say.

“You must admit Dad, it is pretty awesome seeing the atrium every day, you guys did an awesome job of building it,” Jonah whispered to me, as we waited for the clients to head downstairs and go into the dining room before we headed down the stairs and on towards the administration centre and the garage.

When we arrived at the hospital, Carter was out of bed and sitting in a chair with a blanket over his lap, and Giles was sitting next to him, as the talked quietly, and they stopped talking when they saw us enter the room. “Hey guys, this is my son Jonah, he will be around to help you settle in at the place where we live and work, you remember what I told you the other day about the Discovery Project?” I said to the brothers.

“Hi, yes we remember, but I don’t want to leave my brother alone, can he come with us now, or can I stay till he is ready to leave?” Giles asked me. “I know how you feel mate, but it is up to the doctor to decide when Carter is ready to be discharged, but let me go and talk to him while you get to know each other,” I replied.

It didn’t take me long to locate the doctor in charge of looking after the brothers, and I mentioned their concern about being separated and asked if there is any way that they can stay together. “Well, if you are able to guarantee that Carter takes it easy, and rests for the next two days and that he keeps up with his medication, I can’t see why we can’t leave today with his brother. Let's go and see them and have a chat to them about it shall we?” the doctor responded to the boy's concerns.

Just over an hour later, Jonah was pushing Carter in the hospital wheelchair towards the hospital entrance, while the three of them were happily chatting away, with a nurse and myself following close by. Once in the car, with Jonah sitting in the back with the brothers, we headed back to the project.

“Can we stop and get some takeaway please Dad, the guys and I are hungry after all that waiting around at the hospital,” Jonah asked me, and I smiled and agreed to this once only junk food treat. We sat in the carpark of the takeaway restaurant to eat our meals, and once all the rubbish was collected and placed in a nearby bin, we set off again.

As we neared the project, I realised that the boys had stopped talking, and looking in the rear vision mirror, I saw that all three of them were sleeping, so I made an effort to try and not disturb them for the rest of the journey, including taking it slowly as I turned into the driveway and into the garage.

“Ok guys we are here, everybody out, Jonah and Giles, can you help Carter out and maybe between your half carry him all the way to the apartment?” I suggested, “Yes sure Dad, Carter, just put your arms over our shoulders and we will help you get here,” Jonah replied. “But we are already there are we not?” Giles asked.

“Not quite mate, this project consists of three buildings, and we are only in the administration centre, we have to go down some stairs, along a long corridor, up some more stairs for three levels, then we are at the apartment,” I replied, “Wow, I can hardly wait to explore this place, it sounds awesome,” Giles replied, as I glanced at my watch and saw that it was 10.40 am, before sending a quick text message to Nathan.

“We are back, leaving admin now,” and a few moments later I received a reply, “Goodo, clients are in activity class with Scott in the Music room.” A few minutes later, we were in the tunnel heading towards the lower level of the main building.
“Are we in an underground tunnel?” Carter asked me, as Jonah and Giles carried him in an armchair lift.

“Yes we are actually, about twenty feet or six metres underground, this is a secret entrance to the warehouse so you are to tell no one about it ok, including the guys who are the homeless clients that are staying with us,” I replied, “Ok, we understand Uncle Hunter,” Carter replied, “Hey, I like that, is it ok if we call you that?” Giles said, “I see no problem with that, if that is what you want, it is fine with me,” I replied smiling.

When we arrived at the atrium, Nathan and Charles where there waiting for us, ‘Hey guys welcome to the Discovery Project,” Scott said when we appeared, “Boys these guys are two staff members of the project, Nathan and Charles, Scott is busy with the clients at the moment, plus we have two part-time staff, Brent and Kurt,” I said to the brothers.

“They are here, doing some work in the garden,” Nathan informed me, “Ok, well let’s get the boys settled in the apartment,” I said and Scott and Charles took over carrying Carter up the stairs, with Giles and Jonah following close behind. After showing the boys the apartment, we showed them the nearby staff lounge that they can also use, and I informed them that if they ever need anything to not hesitate to ask me or Jonah.

Leaving the boys to be alone for a while, Jonah went to the staff lounge to watch a movie, and I went to find Kurt and Brent, who are weeding the veggie garden. “Hey guys, I have a special request to ask you two. Do you know of any young women, who may be interested in being part of the project?” I asked.

“Matter of fact we do, like us they are partners, and Kirsty is a paramedic and colleague from work, while her partner Sam, or Samantha, is a specialist nurse. Kurt and I were discussing it last night, as they have been asking about his mysterious second job that we have, that we can’t talk about,” Brent replied.

“Excellent, did Nathan tell you about the planned upgrades to take place in the other building?” I asked, “Yes he did, and it sounds great, we look forward to checking out the cinema lounge,” Kurt replied, and Brent just laughed at his comment. “How about we arrange a time when we can invite Sam and Kirsty over for dinner one night, so we can brief them on what we do, and they can see for themselves what our setup is,” I suggested.

“Sounds good boss, we were planning to invite them over to our place for dinner this Saturday actually, so we can make it then if you wish,” Brent said, “Good, make it 6.30 dinner, and arrange to collect them say twenty minutes before then. Also, Brent can you do Horticulture classes once or twice a week, and Kurt are you able to Information & Technology classes once or twice a week?” I asked, “I am sure we can manage that; we just have to adjust our work rosters to allow it,” Brent replied, and Kurt nodded his head in agreement.

“Good, sounds like we are on our way to becoming a successful community. If you haven’t seen the timetable that I have set for the clients, there is a copy in the staff lounge on the ground floor of the main building, until you have adjusted your rosters to suit, the clients will have recreation time until you are available,” I said to Brent and Kurt, before heading over to the apartment to check on the boys.

When I didn’t find them there, I headed to the staff lounge, where they were all watching a movie, so I left them to enjoy it, while I headed downstairs and over to the other building, where I entered the large room above the loading bay, which will become staff accommodation, but firstly the window facing out to the carpark, will become the entry for all supplies needed to make the changes to the two mezzanine level and the new staff accommodation area, and I started planning how the layout will be for this room, and the other two spaces.

“I thought I might find you around here somewhere, I came over to see what you have planned fort he these empty spaces, so I can get started with ordering supplies,” Brent said to me, as he entered shortly afterwards. “Great minds think alike eh, yeah I was just wanting to see how the layout will be, but we best start with the cinema lounge and the new executive apartment first, as this window will be our supplies access,” I replied smiling.

For the next hour and a half, we measured out and planned the areas that are to be renovated, before heading back to the main building, where everyone else is probably close to finishing lunch by now, so we headed directly for the dining room. “Hey lads, how was your first morning here?” I asked the four clients.

“Well thank you, Hunter, although I didn’t finish my schooling, I like the relaxed environment, and the longer sessions of classes and activities,” Toby replied, “Good, to hear that we aim to make it as relaxed as possible, as well as beneficial to you all for your future too, are you happy with the layout of the daily timetable?” I replied.

“Yes sir, I think it is much better than a normal school timetable,” Liam, the youngest in the group replied, do the rest of you agree too?” I asked, and they all nodded their heads yes. “Excellent, as you know, you four are the first to enter this new project, so as much input into how you think of it would be appreciated, even if it is bad criticism, as we want this to be beneficial to many others in the future, understood?” I said to the lads.

“Yes sir,” they all chorused together, and I smiled before heading to the kitchen to get some lunch, and it was where I found Scott and Charles talking. “How did this morning go, any problems?” I asked, “No not one, it is what we were just discussing actually if all the homeless young people are like this, then we will breeze through this project, but being realistic, I know that won’t be the case, I am just thankful that you selected four very well behaved young lads to be our first clients,” Charles replied.

“Although I had not planned it, you both have one main subject class each day, so it will be you guys who will probably get any problems that might arise, just remember that Nathan or I will be around to assist you if you need it at any time,” I said. “yes, I was guessing that may be the case,” Charles replied.

For the sports classes, I will be doing three days, and I have recruited Greg to do the other three days, starting from next week, as he will be adjusting his roster to fit in with the class times in the afternoons,” I announced, as Nathan served our meals to us.

“Thanks, mate, just what I need, food, oh have the boys eaten?” I said to Nathan, “Yes, I sent some up to them half an hour ago, and they are still glued to the movie screen,” Nathan replied, “Ok, sounds like I need to get them out of there and doing something more active, well for two of them anyway, Nathan you are doing Humanities and Social Sciences straight after lunch, how about adding two more to your class” I responded.