With your help, Kayla—once without a home of her own—builds her future.

When she was 8, Kayla went to the police and asked them to put her in foster care.

Her mom had made a habit of leaving her alone for days at a time, with no food and no one to look after her. And when she was home, she regularly beat little Kayla.

“It was almost like a hobby for her,” says Kayla. “I was so scared in that house alone, and when she came home, she was super abusive. It was just awful.”

And, her father was in and out of prison. “My dad is the most kindhearted man in the world. He’s got such a good soul. But he has been an alcoholic since he was a kid.”

She thought that putting herself in state custody would give her parents a wake-up call. “They wouldn’t want me to be in a foster home, so what else would they do besides get it together? You know, stop drinking, stop using drugs, stop leaving me. I just thought it would get better.”

Instead, Kayla bounced from home to home to home—at one, the parents treated her so badly that Kayla’s case manager intervened and they lost their license. Once a star student, she fell behind after switching schools again and again.

Finally, when Kayla was in 8th grade, a room opened up in her aunt’s house, and she became a certified foster parent to take Kayla in—the mother that Kayla had never had. “If I didn’t move in with her, I don’t know what I’d be doing right now. It’s a really scary thought.”

Support to build on, thanks to you.

In high school, Kayla’s case manager referred her to Amanda at our Youth Development Program, which helps youth aging out of state custody transition to adulthood. “I remember the initial meeting, when she told me all the things she could help me with.”

“That was the first time anybody had talked to me about college.”

“I thought, ‘This is my opportunity to branch out and even lead myself.’ My whole time in care had proven that I couldn’t rely on my parents to bounce back and give me a solid life or at least a fair chance at being successful.”

Thanks to your support, Kayla began to plan for college. But in her senior year, her boyfriend of three years suddenly died. In her grief, her grades slipped, she struggled to stay in school, and college seemed like a far-off dream.

She wasn’t sure what to do until Amanda suggested our independent living program, which helps foster kids learn to live on their own. We do many of the things a parent might—like coaching, and helping to pay for books, a computer, or rent.

With your support, a home of her own.

Kayla moved out of her aunt’s house and slowly began to build a life—a home—for herself. She got a job, and eventually started taking classes at Community College of Vermont. Thanks to you, Amanda was always by her side, helping her when her laptop failed in the middle of exams, or covering part of her rent when her hours at work fell through.

“I wasn’t used to that, but it really showed how she saw my priorities as her own. I’ve never really had anywhere else to go. She would do anything she could help me to live independently.”

Next, Kayla transferred to the University of Vermont and got an undergraduate degree in social work. Today, she works for one of the family courts, often witnessing cases that are so similar to her own.

Her dream, if she can find a way to pay for it? To go back to school for public policy, focusing on child welfare. “I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

She also tries to give back to the organizations that helped her. “It’s hard to explain how that extra help pushed me through whatever I was going through. It’s helped me be successful with my goals.”

“You guys were with me for a very long time.”

This article first appeared in the Spring 2017 edition of the Spectrum Sun, a print newsletter. Read the full newsletter here.

The post Finding Home appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This is a letter from Mark, our Executive Director.

The snow has fallen and the darkness comes early each night. Young people who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless need us more than ever—this winter, and into the future.

The good news is, you can help! Join us in sleeping outside overnight in solidarity with our youth while raising funds to support them, and you can make sure teens and young adults have a place to go when the wind starts to bite.

The Executive Sleep Out will be Thursday, March 23rd, and the Student Sleep Out is March 23rd-26th.

Can you stand in solidarity with our youth and sleep out this year? Register now and let our youth know you’ve got their back.

With gratitude,

Mark Redmond
Executive Director

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Spectrum Executive Director Mark Redmond and the BRMS Sleep Out team.

Written by Lucy Mercer. First appeared in the Burlington Free Press.

There are about 1,000 homeless kids in Vermont each year, according to estimates. The Spectrum Sleep Out was started to help lower that number.

Guidance counselor Greg Martin, captain of the Browns River Middle School Sleep Out team in Jericho, said the best benefit of the Spectrum Sleep Out was, “understanding what it feels like to be homeless for just one night.”

This is the school’s third year participating in the event. In that time, they’ve raised more than $10,000 for homeless youth. Each year they average around 30 participants.

Kim Mercer sets up her tent at Browns River Middle School. Photo by Lucy Mercer.

Browns River eighth-grader Eve Chamberland has participated in the Sleep Out all three years and was the only one in her class at this year’s event. Eve joins the Sleep Out every year. “I like helping homeless people, and the Sleep Out really opens your eyes to what happens around you,” she said.

We set up our tents on the front lawn of the school the night of March 31 and then heard from Mark Redmond, executive director of Spectrum, and students who read poems and stories related to homelessness and generosity.

Lucy Mercer reads a poem at the Sleep Out.

During the presentation, Martin also showed videos about people helping to end homelessness. We made cardboard signs with messages like, “You can make a difference every day” and “A smile goes a long way.” The signs were displayed in the windows of the cafeteria so that the whole school could read them.

The BRMS Sleep Out team with handmade signs to raise awareness of youth homelessness.

That night, it turned out to be really warm and everybody thought it would be a nice peaceful night. But right around 10 p.m., the wind started to blow. It was so forceful and so brutal that one tent even collapsed! Thanks to the wind, every tent at the Sleep Out was flapping and even the school’s flag pole was dinging like crazy! I’m not sure anyone got sleep that night.

In the morning, everyone was really tired and pretty grumpy. During school, many people found it was hard to focus. I got a bad score on my spelling test, and so did a few other kids that did the Sleep Out. But it really just goes to show you how hard it is to be homeless.

Altogether, Browns River raised $3,521 for homeless and at-risk youth that night.

Thank you, Browns River!

Lucy Mercer is the daughter of Ryan Mercer, visuals coach at the Burlington Free Press.

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Kim told her story at our recent Empty Bowl Dinner, for an audience of over 250. Kim is a former Spectrum client, and she was willing to share her experiences about how she got her life back on track, thanks to the Spectrum community. Here is an excerpt.

If you had told me five years ago that I’d be working in a tech job as a webmaster for a business that has the word “Localvore” in it, I probably would have laughed and blown smoke in your face—I was smoking a lot of cigarettes back then. I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore. In fact, I’m trying to be healthy.

The health stuff is new to me because I’ve spent most of my life being bitter and self-destructive.

My life began in a trailer park in northern New York affectionately known as “Wiggle Town.” Soon after, we moved to a house I would later realize was home to much of my childhood trauma.

When I was five, my mother left my alcoholic, abusive father and became a high-strung, single mother of a spastic, autistic son and me.

When I was ten, we moved to Mississippi to start our lives over again. As it were, Mississippi was a bad place to start over, because four years later, we lost our house in Hurricane Katrina.

I was just starting high school so I only know an adolescent as a “Katrina Kid.” That being said, my version of teenage angst was looting abandoned buildings and stealing flooded bottles of alcohol and packs of cigarettes from the remnants of liquor stores and gas stations along Highway 90.

Nonetheless, I graduated high school—with honors, even. [But the] economy of Mississippi was—and still is—especially bad. My mother kicked me out of the house as soon as I turned 18 and I lived on a mattress and worked at Hobby Lobby until I hitched a ride with my high school sweetheart to Vermont to attend Burlington College.

I moved to Vermont with $200 and optimism, but soon learned that would not be enough. So, I contacted my biological father from across the lake, and visited the house where I spent the first five years of my life.

Now, I knew the first five years of my life were bad, but I didn’t realize how bad they were until I was already in the Fletcher Allen psych ward for having a ten-hour manic episode from listening to The White Album. They kept me in the psych ward for a week and by the time I got out, I was on a plethora of sedatives and mood stabilizers, had a huge medical bill, and had been kicked out of my apartment.

I am so thankful y’all raise nice children up here, because if it weren’t for the kindness of some of the kids I had met previously in college, I wouldn’t have made it. They . . . let me crash on their futon while I tried to get my life together.

One day, I visited Burlington College and broke down crying in the financial aid office, admitting I was homeless but I really wanted to go back to school. One of the faculty members brought me to Spectrum’s Drop-In Center on Pearl Street and I started living in the Emergency Shelter shortly after. I stayed in the shelter for six months, until I moved to the Spectrum residence. Spectrum gave me a place to put my trash bags of clothes and a bed of my own. The shelter staff gave me the guidance and support I always wanted from my parents but so rarely received.

During that time, I attended the Community College of Vermont (CCV) and started working at the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). I was living in one shelter and working in another. I saved my money while I was at Spectrum and in June of 2012 I moved into my own apartment. I have not fallen into homelessness since.

I worked at COTS for two years, until it was too emotionally taxing for me. Then I started working part-time at a local start-up. I started working only 15 hours a week, doing menial tasks on the computer, but as the company has grown, so has my position. I now work there full-time in my first salary job. My bosses are very supportive, and have even paid for me to take computer programming classes.

My life has never been so good and my future has never been so bright and I know, without a doubt, that this would not have been possible without the love and support I have received from Spectrum. Thank you.

The post “My future’s never been so bright.” appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

The Shelburne Student Sleep Out was a huge success. The “Shelburne Boys” team and the “Shelburne Girls” team dueled to see who could raise the most funds, and in the end, the Shelburne Girls Sleep Out! team raised $2,659, and the boys raised $2,255, totaling $4,914 for our youth and families.

Not only that, but the program the Shelburne sleepers put together was a moving learning experience for all involved! Read on to hear, in the words of one of the organizers, what made their Student Sleep Out so special…

After Spectrum’s Executive Director, Mark Redmond, and Events Coordinator, Kate Romm, came by to thank the kids for their hard work and fundraising efforts, the kids had some time to get their sleeping arrangements set up and made posters that said things like, “help the homeless,” “donate to Spectrum,” and more.

Everyone then gathered and formed a circle. We discussed what would happen during the evening. Joplin James, a teacher at Shelburne Community School (SCS) who also slept out, introduced us to the origins of the song This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie. He spoke about Woody Guthrie’s experience with homelessness. He then played the guitar while everyone sang.

Then, a young woman who Spectrum had helped told her story. That made a huge impact! There were many questions about her experience including, “What does abuse mean?” She gave a great answer to that question and many others. One participant said this morning that she felt sad for her. I think the kids learned a ton, especially about increased empathy toward the homeless and gratitude for their own home and parents.

After that, there was a candle lighting. The kids held their lit candles and walked through town with their posters hanging around their necks. That was a highlight for many of them.

We then had dinner consisting of a soup made from the ingredients that everyone had purchased ahead of time—each participant was told to spend just $3.00 at the store for an ingredient prior to the event. Many students commented that $3.00 did not go very far. In addition to the soup, there was bread, cheese, and some other odds and ends. There was about 30 minutes of free time after that.

We then gathered by the fire, and Vasanthi Meyette, a 4th grade teacher from SCS, read the book Fly Away Home with the group. This also generated many questions and good discussions. She then spoke about food selection experiences for our dinner and what this taught the kids about what it must be like to live on very little income and to have to be very selective. Two-for-one deals are valuable. The kids were also encouraged to read How to Steal a Dog that could be purchased at the Flying Pig bookstore.

Lights out was at 9:30 PM after some time for optional journaling. The night was very long with kids asking for us to escort them to the bathroom in the middle of night and stating that they were cold, which prompted us to research what they were wearing—or not wearing, as was often the case—and helping them get warmer.

Some kids woke around 5 AM or so after the temperature had dipped down to the mid-teens and were able to warm up for awhile inside Town Hall which was left unlocked for us overnight to use the bathroom and/or sleep in the gym if the cold was too overwhelming. I don’t think anyone used the gym, but it was great to know it was there if we needed it.

In the morning, we built another fire in the fire pit, and the kids were served oatmeal and hot chocolate. The Shelburne police chief came to talk and field questions about homelessness in Shelburne. We learned that on any given night there are about 20 homeless people that generally sleep out in tents in the woods where they will not be easily discovered. He mentioned that we were fortunate it was so “warm” last night given how low the temperatures have gotten through the winter. What a way to re-frame things! Again, kids were curious and asked many questions.

It was then time to pack up and parents came. Every child I spoke with mentioned that it was a hard night but wanted to do this again next year! The kids were real troopers with very little complaining and were reserved and respectful given what the event was about. The felt a real sense of accomplishment. Kelly Story and Jenney Samuelson deserve kudos for their brilliant organizational skills and the energy and passion that went into planning this incredible experience. And huge thanks to Spectrum for giving Vermont kids this wonderful opportunity to learn about homelessness and to contribute to their community in a meaningful way and for doing the work you do!

Count us in for next year!

The post “This Land Is Your Land”: Reflecting on the Shelburne Student Sleep Out appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

“When I came into the [Pearl Street Residence],” Chelsea begins, “I was homeless, I had dropped back out of high school, and I had crashed my car. I was in a really big legal situation—I was facing 15 years in prison. I was at a point where I was like, ‘there is no possible way I’m going to get my life back together after this.’”

She was 18 when she moved in, coming from a few months at a rehab facility. “At first, I was not a big fan,” she says. “I wasn’t a big fan of rules and structure. I had a foster home, but I didn’t follow the rules – I just did whatever I wanted.”

“But you’re expected to hold your own at Spectrum. You’re supposed to do chores, follow rules, and go to all your meetings on time. I had to learn how to be responsible. I had to learn basic life skills over again. They literally helped shape me from the ground up.”

Chelsea had dropped out of high school, so first, staff worked with her on getting back in. “They helped me to get to all my appointments, helped me to do my homework, to do the basic things I just needed to do. And I was able to graduate high school, which I thought I would never ever ever do.”

Because she was formerly in foster care, Chelsea also worked with Spectrum’s Youth Development Program, which supports youth aging out of state custody and transitioning to a life on their own. The YDP staff step in where a parent otherwise might, offering coaching and financial support. In Chelsea’s case, they helped her get into cosmetology school and apply for financial aid, and then helped her pay for the clothing she needed for school.

Staff also helped her address her legal situation. “I thought I was going to lose everything, but everybody was by my side the whole time,” she says. Kandi, her caseworker, went to court and then to trial with her. When she was put on house arrest for six months, she thought her life was over again. But she found Spectrum staff there to help her do everything she needed to do.

“I don’t have much family, I really don’t, and they helped to fill that,” says Chelsea, her eyes filling with tears. “Sorry, I’m getting worked up. They taught me how to live life again.”

Now 20, Chelsea is two years sober, lives on her own, and has a job in a local salon. She still comes to Spectrum for counseling and to check in with Kandi once a week.

“I had to be re-taught everything. The way that I was used to living was a dirty way of living. Stealing and doing drugs and no respect for myself or anybody else. It was just a terrible way to live. I guess I got to a point where I was able to look at the way that I was living my life before and really deep down inside decide that I didn’t want that anymore. I have stuff I want to do with my life and even if I didn’t have that much confidence in myself, there was a little part of me that wanted to someday achieve something. I would not have anything I have now without Spectrum,” she says. “That’s real.”

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