The Success Story of Ionita Catalin

There are people that can't be changed however much one might try. It is sad when we, Good Samaritan Beius, find a young person in our program who will not positively respond to our assistance and efforts. Ionita Catalin was a young man who spent two years in our construction program. In these two years, he repeatedly showed that he was unwilling to change his established negative habits: he was late for work over and over again, he was sometimes absent, and when he did work, he rarely carried out a task from his own initiative.

Because of Catalin's constantly negative behaviors towards the organization and his job, the GSB leadership decided not to accept Catalin into the program for another year. For the first time, Catalin realized that the help given him by GSB would not continue throughout his life, and he was forced to seriously take responsibility for his life. This was the turning point in his life; the moment when Catalin understood that it was up to him to change his ways in order to survive. Thus, Catalin went to Oradea looking for a job and a place to stay. In the first month, he stayed in a night shelter, but only between the allowed hours of 1700 to 0700; during the day he was forced to look for a job. After some time, he succeeded in finding employment with a construction firm, where he continues to work. Construction work was the occupation for which Catalin trained while he was in GSB.

Once Catalin was employed, he succeeded in finding a flat in the city with decent rent. Living in this flat was a big step in Catalin's integration into society. Catalin's neighbors are Christians who became attached to him and, as they understood that he came from a placement center, they started to give him material and spiritual support. Having a good environment at work and at home and understanding that it was solely up to him to change and survive, Catalin quickly turned into a different person. The belief of his neighbors urged Catalin to go to church, eventually becoming a believer himself.

Catalin's story teaches us that the positive growth and change in a young person from the placement center depends on several factors, the main one being the young person having a desire to change. Only then can the environmental and work factors begin to have an effect. The effort that Good Samaritan staff put into teaching Catalin proper behavior did not have an effect because Catalin had no interest in becoming a more responsible person. Good Samaritan's "tough love" - not accepting Catalin's poor behavior and dismissing him from the program - pushed him into surviving solely by his own means. Once he realized a need to change, Catalin was able to use what he learned at Good Samaritan - construction work - as an asset for his new life. Now that Catalin has given proof that he wants to change, Good Samaritan will support him in his efforts for a better life.