Mission Outreach NEA, Inc.
 

Fresh Start. Specific Help. New Hope.
  From Paragould Daily Press - December 11, 2008

Overcoming the past

James Crase, who recently learned how to read, receives his first library card at the Greene County Library on Tuesday.

After a childhood of abuse, a man learns to read at the age of 48

 
Published: Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:19 PM CST
Chad Miller/Daily Press

James Crase was dealt a bad hand in life. He was put up for adoption at birth and was abused as a child by his foster parents. But now, thanks to the hard-working volunteers at Mission Outreach, Crase has a new lease on life. He recently learned to read and was excited to receive his first library card.

"He was horribly abused in the foster care system," said Mission Outreach executive director Jamie Collins. "Part of his punishment in one of the homes was in conjunction with his not learning to their expectations."

The 48-year-old Crase has mental and physical difficulties, but Collins said he has been able to work through a lot of them.

"A part of his punishment (at one of the foster homes) was being locked in a basement that had water standing in it," she said. "So water is a huge issue for him. I couldn't wash his hair in a sink. Getting him to take a bath in the beginning was an issue. So we had a lot to tackle in the beginning."

Collins said she thought Crase's issues with learning were a result from the abuse he suffered. So she worked with his case manager and convinced Crase to attend literacy counseling. Since attending classes at the literacy council, he can currently read at a third grade level.
 

I'm beginning to read some," Crase said. "But I can't read a whole lot."

"It was like it happened overnight," Collins said. "We didn't talk about it. We didn't ask him about it. We just knew he was going."

Collins said Crase just came in one day and started to read signs to her.

Crase said he was abused in foster homes until he was 9 years old, when he was adopted by Myrtie Williamson. Crase recalled when he first met the woman who became his adoptive mother. He said he was sitting on a sidewalk crying when Williamson saw him.

"This woman passed by in a car going with her mother to the beauty shop," Crase said. "She saw me crying and she just said, 'would you like to go home with me?' I said 'Sure.' So I spent the night with them and come to find out, they wanted to adopt me."

That's when the abuse stopped for Crase.

"She was really good to me," he said. "She didn't beat on me or nothing."

But as Williamson got older, she became unable to care for Crase, Collins said.

"A lot of times, people don't think about that," she said. "We see a lot of adults who were special needs children and were adopted. They never thought about what this was going to be like as a lifetime commitment."

Crase even started a career in professional wrestling around 1978. Together with his adoptive brother, Larry, they were a tag team known as "The Moondogs." They wrestled on the Memphis circuit up until about 1995. During his career, Crase was in the ring with several famous wrestlers from the area, including Jerry "The King" Lawler and "Superstar" Bill Dundee.

Crase came to Mission Outreach about five years ago and currently lives in one of their permanent housing homes.

"In the beginning, I wasn't sure we were going to be able to keep him," Collins said. "He had a real anger problem. He had some serious physical problems. He has crippling arthritis. He's diabetic. He had some behavioral problems. But he kind of got in with the flow and followed the rules. Now, he's the jolliest person you could ever be around."

In fact, Collins said Crase is so jolly, he has played the part of Santa Claus for the children staying at the mission for the last three years.

Crase said what motivated him to learn how to read was wanting to be able to read the Bible.
"He would call me up on the phone and say 'get your Bible out and you read along with me and tell me if I'm reading it right,'" Collins said. "He would read until I would tell him, 'I've got to go.' You've never seen anybody so excited to get to read the Bible."

Since then, Crase has been able to start driving for the mission and has begun learning to write. Collins said he is also a wonderful cook.

"You can't stay sad around James," Collins said. "He's so jolly and cheers everybody up."

Reproduced with permission from Paragould Daily Press. All Other Rights reserved.