Azeem’s life came apart when he was 13. First, his father died suddenly of an unexpected stroke. Then, his mother stopped taking her medications and fell into a severe schizophrenic crisis. Not knowing what she was doing, she threw away all of Azeem’s belongings and abandoned him in their now-empty apartment.
After Azeem spent a few days hanging out in the apartment manager’s office, Child Protective Services was called.
Azeem was placed in an emergency shelter, where he met his Dallas CASA volunteer, Michael, for the first time.
“He’s a good kid,” Michael said. “He’s smart and serious about school, and he has goals for himself. His primary concern was school.”
The apartment manager stepped up to serve as a temporary placement for Azeem, and the court ordered mental health treatment for Azeem’s mother. He was able to attend the same school and kept his grades, all As and Bs in honors and advanced classes. Things seemed stable.
But as days turned into weeks, Azeem grew homesick. He was grieving his father, and he missed his mother, their shared Muslim traditions and, especially, her cooking. He didn’t care for the ethnic Mexican dishes cooked by the apartment manager for her family, and he started to lose weight. The apartment manager had converted her dining room into a temporary bedroom for Azeem, but there was not much privacy for a teenage boy.
Azeem craved his mother’s Biryani, a layered chicken, vegetable and rice dish rich in spices, including saffron and cumin. His mother’s health had begun to improve, so Michael reached out. If Azeem’s mother cooked her son some food, he offered to deliver it.
Over the next few weeks, Azeem’s mother and Michael created a system. She cooked Azeem’s favorite foods, and Michael delivered them to Azeem either at his placement or his school. The food deliveries gave Michael time to get to know Azeem’s mother and see how she was rebuilding her life.
Azeem’s mother had moved into a shared apartment with another woman from South Asia and was complying with her medication and therapy regimen. Quarters were cramped, but as Azeem’s mother’s mental health continued to improve, Michael wondered if he would not be happier living with his mother.
Azeem also wanted to be home for Ramadan, a month-long time of prayer and fasting for Muslims. Together with CPS and all stakeholders on the case, Michael proposed allowing Azeem to live with his mother. The judge agreed, but Michael’s work was not done yet.
Azeem had been attending a special magnet program at his local high school prior to his family’s crisis. Throughout his time at the shelter and with the apartment manager, he stayed at that school. But now that Azeem was heading home, his mother found her new apartment was a half mile outside the school’s boundaries. Michael intervened, helping Azeem secure a transfer to stay in the same school.
Azeem is home with his mother today, enjoying her cooking, focusing on school and looking ahead.
