How Titus Learned He Was Worth Helping
When WAYS offered Titus a room in our new men’s transition house, his first response was, “Give it to somebody else who needs it.” He had grown up believing his only value came from what he could do for other people, and that real men don’t accept help, go to counseling, or talk about their feelings. Saying yes to a home was one thing. Believing he deserved it would take a whole team, a lot of patience, and a few surprises along the way.
Where the Story Starts
Titus grew up on the move with his mom, bouncing between truck stops and homes where he was rarely safe. Whenever a school noticed he might need extra support, he was pulled out and enrolled somewhere new, and by age 12 he had stopped attending altogether. He was never in foster care. Instead, he slipped quietly through every gap in the system, spending his teenage years working, looking after his mom, and eventually ending up on his own without a safe, stable place to live.
And somehow, in the middle of all of that, Titus decided he wanted his GED. With no schooling since age 12 and no one to guide him, he figured out the process himself and earned it at 19.
A Nudge That Wouldn’t Let Go
When a new WAYS case manager met Titus in the summer of 2025, he stayed on her heart in a way she couldn’t shake. “Don’t give up on him” became her quiet refrain, and she brought him up so often that her colleagues started teasing her about it. Then Titus went silent. His phone was disconnected, and no one knew where to find him.
That September, WAYS opened the men’s transition house, and Executive Director Pam Bress was all in on holding a spot for Titus. A few weeks later, he walked back through our door with no idea the house even existed. His case manager still calls it a God thing, and it’s hard to argue with the timing.
Even after he said yes, believing he belonged there took time. For his first few weeks, Titus slept on the floor in the narrow space between the bed and the wall. Compliments made him genuinely angry, and if you told him he was kind, he would insist, “I am not a good person. I know who I am.”
Learning the Things Nobody Taught Him
This is where wraparound support made all the difference. Instead of one-off help, Titus finally had a team surrounding him every day, including his case manager, the transition house staff, a career coach, vocational rehabilitation, an independent living skills coach, and eventually a counselor.
Together, they taught him the everyday skills most of us pick up without noticing, like cooking and storing food safely, doing laundry, building a personal care routine, and reading a bank statement. His skills coach cracked the code on the one form of communication that actually works for him, so he stopped missing appointments and opportunities. He got his first eye exam in years, along with glasses in the right prescription, and began seeing a doctor. Then he did the thing he once swore men don’t do, and started counseling.
“He was able to be met with humility and discretion and be taught one-on-one, and not feel like he was just disposable,” one staff member shared. That shift, from feeling disposable to feeling held, is the turning point everyone on his team points to.
When Life Threw a Curveball
A few months after moving into his own apartment, Titus lost his job. His team is certain the old Titus would have disappeared. Instead, he let himself be sad for a few days, called the people he trusts, and got back to work.
For two years, he had tried to study for his learner’s permit, only to become overwhelmed and shut down. This time, he studied and passed. He enrolled in a supported employment program, and this week he interviewed for a retail position where he’ll work 20 hours a week with a job coach by his side. Along the way, he paid his own utility deposit and kept up with his bills. When a family situation put his housing at risk, he let the WAYS team step in alongside him, and told them afterward, “I feel better. I know you’re going to help. I know I don’t have to worry.”
The Cheat Sheet
Titus still has things he’s working through. More than anything, he wants friends, and someday a family of his own. Not long ago he asked his case manager how a person can tell whether someone likes them for who they are, or only for what they can do for them.
She told him he already has the best cheat sheet imaginable. Titus is kind, he shows up for people, and he goes out of his way to let them know they matter. If someone is doing those same things for him, that’s real. It’s the kind of question most people wrestle with as teenagers, and his team sees it as a beautiful sign of how far he’s grown.
Finding Their Way
“We tried hundreds of things, and we don’t give up,” one staff member said. “Our way may not be their way, but we will find their way.”
That’s wraparound in a sentence. Home gave Titus a foundation, a whole team gave him a strategy, and now independence is coming into view, one interview, one paid bill, and one brave conversation at a time.
Titus’s name has been changed to protect his privacy.
WAYS for Life provides wraparound youth services for young adults formerly in foster care and those experiencing homelessness. Learn more at waysforlife.org.
