Bethel - "The 'Wendepunkt' is a part of my life"

"At some point, I didn't listen to anyone or anything," says Marvin Schmäck. "And when there was no other option for me, the 'Wendepunkt' came." This is the name of the inpatient youth welfare centre run by Bethel's Hoffnungstaler Foundation Lobetal, where Marvin was admitted at the age of 12. Today, 16 years later, he is a qualified educator - and has returned to the "Wendepunkt" as an employee.

It's been a long road to get here - one that wasn't easy for Marvin Schmäck, especially as a teenager. "I come from a good home," he emphasises. Nevertheless, Marvin went off the rails at a young age. His behaviour away from home on the streets of Berlin-Marzahn was particularly problematic: "There was a lot of crime there, a lot of negativity. It's easy to fall in with the wrong people and come into contact with drugs," says the now 28-year-old. "Cannabis came to me quite early on. I think I was eleven," he recalls. "Then came the acquisitive crime; robberies, stealing, selling things on." Marvin stopped going to school.

His parents soon realised that their son had problems - and moved with him from the city to the countryside. But the move brought no improvement: "I didn't sleep at home any more, I just did what I wanted," says Marvin. The offences didn't stop either. "The reports fluttered in every week. The typical daily routine was: get up, go out, smoke what was left over from the day before. Get new stuff, hang out with the boys, spray graffiti. Day in, day out." Street workers, the youth welfare office, a therapist, his parents - everyone was looking for a way out of drugs and crime for Marvin. "There were so many people at the table. And at some point they said: 'Wendepunkt', closed psychiatric ward or juvenile detention." Marvin opted for the "Wendepunkt".

He stayed for around a year. "I learnt a lot here," he says looking back today. Above all, the memories of the respectful interaction with the young people have stayed with him. "And even though it was only a year, the staff at 'Turning Point' gave me a lot to take with me," says Marvin. "I've learnt to question the things I do. And I learnt that there are rules that have consequences if you don't follow them." After a year at "Turning Point", Marvin moved to another youth welfare programme, where he initially spent several months working on a farm in Turkey. This was followed by another full inpatient stay in Germany. Marvin completed his school-leaving certificate. "That was a court order," he says. "Then I got out and worked in my father's company for a few years."