SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Now a story about rescued wolves and the troubled children who walk with them, how they're helping and healing each other. Gloria Hillard reports from a wolf sanctuary in the high desert north of Los Angeles.
GLORIA HILLARD, BYLINE: In hoodies and well-worn sneakers, these city kids are making their way up the mountain. Leading them is a wolf named Malo.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOLF HOWLING)
HILLARD: For many of the teens, this youth empowerment program called Wolf Connection is their last chance - kicked out of school, in gangs, in and out of foster homes. When program leader Amanda Beer asked them for one word that describes their strength, the tough kids struggle.
AMANDA BEER: The wolves never doubt themselves. They always have their own back. They also have each other's back. So let's hear this is who I am and this is my strength.
HILLARD: A tall boy, his eyes fixed on the ground, finally speaks.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Aggression.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOLVES HOWLING)
HILLARD: The wolves often respond this way, and when they do, the teens in the circle are respectful and silent. One of them is Charlie. We're not using the last names of the juveniles because some are victims of abuse.
CHARLIE: Sometimes they just howl just to encourage us, just to show us, like, you're not alone. I've learned a lot from them, like how they deal with their traumas and stuff.
HILLARD: Charlie has had his own trauma.
CHARLIE: When I was younger, my mom had a bad boyfriend/husband. He was a pedophile, and my mom first got with this person when I was, like, around 5.
HILLARD: The wolf Charlie gravitated to is Koda, who had been abused and chained to a pole as a roadside attraction in Alaska.
CHARLIE: And I feel how Koda feels.
HILLARD: When the kids listen to the stories of the wolves, they often hear their own story says Teo Alfero, the founder of Wolf Connection.
TEO ALFERO: These wolves and wolf dogs come from abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and the youth that we serve come from abuse, neglect and mistreatment.
HILLARD: Over the course of eight weeks, the teens interact closely with the wolves and wolf dogs, forming a strong bond says program leader Amanda Beer.
BEER: They start standing up straighter. They come in with a smile and maybe even a hug or they laugh and tell you story. And so we watch them transition.
HILLARD: Those positive outcomes were the subject of two studies conducted by Claremont Graduate University. They found that the teens grew in self-reflection and insight as well as being able to open up and trust others.
Near the end of the program, the teens meet in a sharing circle. Outside, strong winds buffet the canvas yurt. Inside, some stories come in a rush; others in bits and pieces. The kids with a defiant bravado just weeks earlier are quiet. Some have tears in their eyes. And sharing on this day is Leihla. She pulls the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her hands as she talks.
LEIHLA: I was like don't really like nobody, or every school that I went to I never liked. But knowing a lot of you guys' stories and...
HILLARD: The 15-year-old says in the beginning she wasn't hopeful that she would finish Wolf Connection's program.
LEIHLA: I didn't think I was going to be able to, like, be around so much people for that long - so yeah.
HILLARD: Leihla talks about a wolf named Mikey, shy and not comfortable around people. When he arrived, he was small and undernourished.
LEIHLA: After getting to know his story and the kind of wolf he is, it's like that's my wolf.
HILLARD: And Leihla's story...
LEIHLA: That's something I don't share or I don't want anybody to know because I don't want, like, nobody looking at me different, but with Mikey it's like it's OK.
HILLARD: During their last time together, Mikey, the wolf that didn't trust people, leans in close to the girl who, not that long ago, also shied away.
(SOUNDBITE OF WOLVES HOWLING)
HILLARD: For NPR News, I'm Gloria Hillard.