Every day we read about proposed cuts to the federal budget that would hurt the most vulnerable. At one time, I was one of those vulnerable people that needed special help and guidance, and I was lucky enough to find it.
At sixteen, I had been expelled from my high school. People began to perceive me as off-track, as “bad.” But what I needed was flexibility and some special attention. At first, I thought an alternative school in Seattle was my last chance — but it was after orientation that I found real hope when I was connected with YouthCare’s YouthBuild at the Orion Center.
At YouthBuild programs like YouthCare’s, low-income, unemployed, and out-of-school young people enroll for a school year in a small school setting. There they can earn their high school diploma or equivalency, while learning work skills by building affordable housing and other community assets in their neighborhoods, receiving leadership training and engaging in community service.
To me, YouthBuild was more than leadership development — it was a place with caring adult staff and love. It was a place where I met young people who were just like me, who also had been written off as misfits or “bad kids.” Instead, at YouthBuild, we were treated like real, important people. We were shown that our mistakes didn’t define us, regardless of how bad they seemed to everyone else. YouthBuild empowered us to follow our dreams and showed us that no matter our personal struggles, we still had every right to a good, fulfilling life, one we were willing to work hard to achieve.
The staff at YouthBuild goes above and beyond to help their students. When I told my YouthBuild director that I wanted to be a writer, she connected me with local resources, including an internship with a youth media program. The internship was the perfect fit; not only was I learning about the ins-and-outs of public radio journalism, but I was given the chance to host a podcast with other young people. My YouthBuild director introduced me to other writers and journalists who shared the tricks of the trade with me, and she even empowered me to start my own blog. I will always remember the amazing feeling of sharing my work in a public forum for the first time.
YouthCare’s YouthBuild program and hundreds of programs like it depend on funding from the federal government. It would be crushing to me if budget cuts take money away from programs like this, because I know firsthand how many young people benefit from the services and programs YouthBuild provides.
Beyond Seattle, tens of thousands of other young people at hundreds of programs across the country and around the world have been able to rebuild their lives and communities through YouthBuild. We share not just the opportunities that experience afforded us, but also the sentiments that our mentors and staff inspired within us. YouthBuild provided so many of us with our first real work experience, a chance to reclaim our educations, and a community, but most importantly it also taught us to keep going regardless of what we’ve been through.
There’s an estimated 3 million low-income, out-of-school, out-of-work young adults in the United States. Our country wins when we invest in a second chance for young adults like me who want to be self-reliant, positive contributors. We are willing to work hard if given the chance.
Please join me in calling on all the members of our Washington congressional delegation to continue to advocate for the most vulnerable during this critical time. We can’t afford not to.
Speak up and help the youth so they do not loose their funding, the letter is already pre-written just click the link and fill in your information something so simple can help something so big stay around. If you have a story about how YouthBuild helped you feel free to leave it in the comments
