Ben, pictured left, with Spectrum’s executive director Mark Redmond on the day of Ben’s college graduation.

The following is a speech presented by Ben, a former client of Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Born and raised in Mankato, Minnesota, I came from a low-income household originally comprised of 4 people including myself and three others. My mother, like all other women in the family was well-educated and had a good sense of direction and discipline and was well brought up in an average, middle-class family. My father, who hailed from San Jose, California did not achieve the same prestige as my mother did. Like his father before him, mine never graduated from high school, nor did he finish college and was notorious for unlawful activity which was suspected to be the reason for his many personal flaws. As my father left the family without a trace early on in life, my mother, sister and myself began a long tenure of hardship and anger spanning over a decade. Often times, it was difficult enough that my remaining parent had to work long hours and had to have close friends take care of myself and my sister to even attempt to make her ends meet.

Since parents did not have much of a factor in my life anymore, I myself became distant and troublesome as to even have law enforcement involved numerous times during my adolescence period. As a result, I became a lost figure in the eyes of society and delved further into quarrelsome behavior as a way to both cope and retaliate back at the community I lived in. This, in combination with drug abuse and other elements eventually led to my forced departure from my high school in 2005. Being devasted and clouded in judgement, I felt the conclusion that my life was meaningless and that putting the effort into bettering myself did not matter nor would it create a long-term impact on my life as a success.

After barely pulling through a second chance at high school in 2008 and after many unsuccessful attempts at rehab treatment for my problems, I was given an eviction notice by my mother who struggled to have me in her home, without any fault of her own. Not having anywhere to go nor anyone to rely upon as I was already a notorious figure in society, I felt hopeless again as I did years previous when my substance abuse was at its peak.

However, I was relieved again when I found out about a social-services organization based out of Burlington called Spectrum; they had offered me a place to stay at Maple Street, good people who supported my recovery, my personal development, and a chance to get an apartment within the Section 8 program.

I was relieved, yet I was hesitant about doing this, for I was not accustomed to living with a plan to be better than I was at the time. However, little did I discover how important the interpersonal skills and development I achieved at Maple St would be applied to me quite literally. I could say that going through this program at Spectrum was the very reason I am alive today and why I still have success now in life.

Fast forward to 2011, after years of treatment for my problems, I became well enough where I felt the need to find a profession that helped release me from the struggles of poverty and Section 8 housing. At the time, I maintained an apartment of my own and had a full-time job but was at a dead end in my career in retail. This in addition to the growing financial obligations from subsidized housing led me to the conclusion that I could no longer live in the conditions that I was presently in.

Going back to school was almost a dream for me as I could neither afford it, nor did I feel like I could be motivated enough to stay committed to my degree program. As someone who made a lifelong career of not holding commitments, I was almost positive that college would not be a realistic choice for me. That being said, one day while talking to Mark Redmond, I brought up the issue of outgrowing Section 8 and the need to better myself again. Little did I discover the impact of my words again as Mark Redmond encouraged me to go back to school to get a degree. Not only did he encouraged me to do so but ensured that my tenure at Vermont Technical College would be supported by him and Spectrum. As a result of the help I received from Spectrum once more, I was able to complete my Associates of Applied Science in Automotive Technology and begin a career as a technician for one of the largest vehicle manufacturers in the country. Without the help of Spectrum or Mark, I doubt that my success would’ve became a reality nor would it motivated me further to continue pursuing a bachelor’s in business from the same college.

For the donors, your contributions to Spectrum are the reason people like me have hope and believe they can be greater than themselves.

So many in our society are at risk, so many of our youth are displaced, disenfranchised, or discarded because they don’t have any hope, because they feel lost and they feel society doesn’t care about them at all. My solemn request of all of you in this room right now in response to this growing crisis before us today, pay it forward and help those who need it most.

Because of you, I am no longer in poverty. Because of you, I am no longer a statistic of the Prison Industrial Complex that held its iron grip on me. Because of you, I am no longer afraid to stand tall in the darkness. I thank each and everyone of you for what you did and I hope will all heart with all heart that you will continue to help those in need like you all did with me. That is all.

The post “Because of you, I am no longer a statistic” appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Terry and Kiara have been a mentor pair for about six years. In honor of National Mentoring Month, they sat down to talk with Lt. Governor Zuckerman to share more about the mentoring programs they’ve been involved in, such as Grand Isle County Mentoring and our own mentoring program.

Asked how their partnership has changed over the years, Kiara told “We used to play Trouble a lot, and different board games. Now, we go ice skating a lot, we go to the movies, and we go to [my mentor’s] house and cook.”

Plus, Kiara is involved in Girls Who Code.

“Kiara just amazes me,” says her mentor Terry. “She’s very bright, and very interested in technology and computers. She was showing me this program that she wrote, and I didn’t know anything about it, and I thought, how can I help her in an area that I don’t know anything about?

Hearing about Kiara’s interest in coding, Terry’s daughter recommended Girls Who Code.

“So we contacted them, and found out that it was an agency, and located at UVM, so now every Saturday, I help by taking her to Girls Who Code,” says Terry.

Plus, there are countless other activities, too. As Terry told Lt. Gov. Zuckerman, “it has been great to branch out to [the Spectrum mentoring program]. It gave us a lot of flexibility.” Together, Kiara and Terry can go on all kinds of adventures, or out in the community together.

“Thanks to Mobius, there’s a bunch of businesses that offer discounts for the two of us.”

For example, when Kiara told her mentor she wanted to learn to ice skate, Terry took advantage of the Mobius discount to visit the Cairns Arena in South Burlington. It’s free for Kiara to skate, and Terry pays just $5.

Plus, they’ve been able to go to several shows at the Flynn, thanks to Mobius’s generous discounted ticket program for mentor pairs.

Lt. Governor Zuckerman asked how their mentoring relationship has impacted their lives.

“[Having a mentor] has helped me have a little more self-confidence,” says Kiara.

“I feel young again,” says Terry of her experience as a mentor. “I feel like a teenager when I’m with her. I feel excited to show her new things, but often Kiara is the one who is teaching me more.”

And says Kiara of the partnership, “it’s good to know that there’s someone there to bring you places and help you do stuff when nobody else wants to.”

“And, it’s good having someone to talk to. Sometimes, people don’t want to listen to you, but mentors do.”

Listen to their full interview on Lt. Governor Zuckerman’s Facebook page.

Interested in becoming a mentor? Contact Stephanie, our mentoring coordinator, at sball@spectrumvt.org or (802) 864-7423 x321.

The post Mentor Pair Interview: Kiara and Terry appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Happy Valentine’s Day, from all of us at Spectrum. Today and every day, we are so grateful that people like you open your hearts to our youth, to make sure they have a safe place to be, a supportive community, and the help they need to thrive.

Thank you for keeping our youth in your heart.

With love and gratitude,
The Spectrum Team

The post Thank you for keeping our youth in your heart. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This piece was written by a young person who accesses Spectrum’s services, thanks to people like you, who keep our doors open. It is part of a series of Spectrum Youth Voices.

Dear reader,

I am nearing 21 and under the impression that society would prefer it if I had my act together, and I was nice to you and smiled when you said “hello,” even though I don’t have my act together, I don’t feel smiley, and I don’t want to say “I’m fine” when you ask me how I’m doing.

What I want to say is “horrible.” I am doing horrible because everybody is supposed to be happy around the holidays but all I feel is empty.

I grew up with a comfortable home life but, due to events I won’t go into detail about, that life was taken from me almost 3 years ago. I was thrown into a world that didn’t make sense and I had to make decisions I wasn’t qualified to make.

I had to go with my gut, and it didn’t always lead me in the best direction. So I also spent some time backtracking, so to speak.  I’m not telling you all this so you pity me; I’m telling you this so you understand me.

I’m not the only individual accessing Spectrum who has undergone significant—even traumatic—loss. I’m not the only one feeling empty or struggling with the enormous isolation brought on by all these complicated feelings.

So, reader, this is where you come in. I can’t speak for everyone, but to me, the holidays are just a big, national reminder of what’s missing and what I can’t get back.  The holidays have so much emphasis on material goods but I would give anything to have back the life I lost.

So over the next month or so, take time to hug someone a little tighter, and listen a little longer, because these are the memories that count. These are the memories that will never lose value and can never be replaced.

The post An open letter to those who don’t know how to help. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

At our winter warming shelter for youth facing homelessness, the University of Vermont Medical Center and the Community Health Centers of Burlington have donated bedding and cots.

This winter, the Burlington Free Press and Vermont Catholic Magazine have shared the story of our winter warming shelter for youth facing homelessness, which opened in November in the Parish Hall of the Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph.

The shelter opened this winter funded entirely by private donations, including from the Hoehl Family Foundation and the Argosy Foundation.

As Will Towne, our supported housing supervisor, put it, “We’ve been full pretty much every single night, which is great, the word is getting out, but it also goes to show that there’s a need for increased services.

“I probably don’t need to tell you how hard it was to turn people away last winter. The basic need of having a roof over your head is the most important thing, in order to get other parts of your life back together,” he added.

Writing in Vermont Catholic Magazine, Cory Fugere Urban shared this quote from Father Lance Harlow, rector of the co-cathedral and Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception parishes: “Each of us is committed to serving the homeless population during the cold Vermont winters, and I am hoping that our first year in partnership will help to save the lives of young adults who would otherwise find themselves in jeopardy.”

Thank you to our community of supporters for coming together to help our youth stay out of the cold this winter.

Read the Vermont Catholic Magazine article here.

Read the Burlington Free Press coverage here.

The post A place out of the cold for youth facing homelessness. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This article was written by a young person who accesses Spectrum’s services.

At the end of October, I lost a friend who was very near and dear to my heart, to almost 10 years of battling cancer. The loss is still very new, and very raw, and likely will be for many weeks if not months to come; however, it has allowed me to write this with a new perspective and determination to write from the very bottom of my heart.

As I’ve been working through my own grief process, this writing has also undergone significant changes. Through the many edits, complete re-writes and even different viewpoints being expressed, I have kept certain parts, discarded (many) others, and completely started over on more than one occasion. Although you can’t really discard or completely start over with life after loss, you can keep parts of that individual and your perspective of the world will change. As I reflected on my life and current thought process I discovered several parallels between writing and grieving.

The five stages of grief look different for everyone, as does the writing process. Some people plan out what they’re going to write and others just do it. I’m more of the wait-until-the-last-minute writer. Similarly, grief looks different on everyone.

As I said, I’m more of a just-do-it type of writer, which means I definitely wait until the last minute. It’s not that I don’t want to be writing and advocating for my peers, it’s just constantly feeling like I have more important things to do in life. Grieving isn’t much different.

I know my feelings will always be there, and this particular line of thinking leads me down two distinct paths: (1) my feelings will always be here so I should really just deal with them now and get them out of the way; or (2) my feelings will always be here so I should focus on the more impermanent things (such as school) and deal with the feelings later.

I look at these two perspectives as denial and bargaining rolled into one and they don’t get you anywhere. It really doesn’t matter how you think or what you think because the feelings are still felt. Similarly, the writing still has to get written, the only difference is how you write and what you write about.

Acceptance came when I decided I wasn’t going to write about what was easy, I was going to write about what I know.

Depression is the beginning of acceptance. In the writing process, that may look like walking away from the piece entirely. In life, it can look like isolation or engaging in risky and harmful behaviors. Many of the individuals at Spectrum, myself included, have used or currently use these coping mechanisms to try and understand why life works the way it does.

They make us feel something other than the true pain of what’s beneath the behaviors; just as watching Netflix can help you ignore the panic of writing about something no body really enjoys hearing, which is a point I’ll elaborate on a bit later; there is nothing you can do.

The final stage of just about anything you will ever do in life is acceptance. In this particular writing, acceptance came when I decided I wasn’t going to write about what was easy, I was going to write about what I know. What I know is that grief sucks, and it’s hard. I know that “I’m sorry” and “I’m here for you” doesn’t help a whole lot. I know that words aren’t helpful as the loss is still lost and the feelings are still felt.

I know that it’s okay to feel. In fact, it’s a good thing, because feelings are meant to come and go. They’re what make us, as humans, different from one another. Intense emotions and being messy are not signs of weakness and do not make you any less of an individual.

This has been a hard piece to write as it’s typically not what people like to hear in terms of supporting those close to them through a tough time, but I’ve taken that to mean this is a subject matter of great importance. I know I am just one person, and one perspective, but I hope I have shed some light on the experience and process of losing a loved one.

The post The Five Stages of Writing, Grief, and Writing about Grief appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Charlie and Winston Smith choose their bowls.

What follows is a note from our Executive Director, Mark Redmond.

Thank you to all who joined us at the Empty Bowl Dinner on October 12th.

I was awestruck by the compassion and caring you showed for our youth. I am so grateful that our young people can rely on you to offer a hand when the going gets tough.

As René said that night, “Spectrum is about creating that sense of family. It is about creating a sense of community and knowing that we are loved and supported. And that there are youth and staff and, also, wonderful people like you out here who are supporting us every day. And I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing.”

Thanks to you, we raised $68,400 that night—$15,000 from the giving board alone! And because of the generosity of all who donated food and services to the event, almost all of the money raised will go directly to helping our youth build their own success.

Thank you for being a part of such a great night.

With gratitude,

Mark Redmond

Empty Bowl volunteers and Spectrum staff at the end of the night.

The post Thank you for a great Empty Bowl! appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

“I myself feel very guilty and a failure as parent because I knew this could happen to him. I talked to him about it several times…” she wrote. “But talking and a good family weren’t enough.”

You can read Mark’s response in the Washington Post here. And let us know your thoughts.

If you know a young person 12-30 who needs help with their addiction, our counselors can help. Call (802) 864-7423 x310 or click here to make an appointment.

The post The words you never want to hear a parent say appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Recently, Jack Thurston of NECN visited Detail Works, our new social enterprise. Detail Works is a deluxe car detailing shop that gives job skills and life skills to our youth and empowers them to practice having a job in a supportive environment.

Jack spoke with Charles, one young person who was homeless before he came to live in our supportive housing. Without Spectrum, Charles said, “I don’t think I’d be anywhere at this point.”

It’s thanks to the generous support of community members like you that Charles and other young people find supportive employment at Detail Works.

The post Cleaning Cars, Transforming Lives appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

What follows is a guest blog post written by CeCe Horbat, the Diversity, Equity, & Multiculturalism Coordinator at Spectrum.

On May 6th, 2017, we hosted the Youth Leadership Conference at Champlain College. Created by our Multicultural Youth Program, the conference is designed for youth to have fun and learn, while also providing the support they need to build successful leadership skills.

To make it happen, we collaborated with many amazing community partners, including Northwest Counseling Support Services; Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health; Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront; Burlington Community and Economic Development Office; and Champlain College.

Our Youth Advisory Committee designed the whole conference, choosing everything from the t-shirt design to the workshops, from our amazing keynote speaker, Rebecca Eun Mi Haslam (Vermont’s Teacher of the Year), to our Snapchat geotag for the day! In order for the event to be a success, it had to be by youth and for youth.

Catherine, left, of the Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront; and Rebecca Eun Mi Haslam

Almost 100 youth, ages 14-24, participated in the day, learning about themselves and each other. Haslam kicked off the day by sending us the important message: “Know your why, and remember that you are the only one in control of where you’re headed.”

Some of the day’s most popular workshops were led by youth: “LGBTQ Intersectionality,” “Conversations about Racism,” “Breaking Down Cultural Barriers,” and “Spoken Book.” And many other community partners, like the Fletcher Free Library, The Peace and Justice Center, Opportunities Credit Union, and Parents and Youth for Change led fun, engaging workshops.

After lunch, youth explored over 30 organizations, service providers and post-secondary opportunities in a resource fair. Special thanks to ACLU, Vermont Tech, Vermont Works for Women, “I am Vermont, Too,” and Vermont Adult Learning, just to name a few.

In order for the event to be a success, it had to be by youth and for youth.

We finished the jam-packed day by reading a Letter of Support from Senator Bernie Sanders (though he wasn’t able to make it!) and holding a raffle drawing for prizes to local businesses. To our amazing community raffle prize partners like Old Spokes Home, City Market, YMCA, Burlington Electric, the staff at TJMaxx and many, many more, we thank you for your amazing support.

The conference was successful and empowering because of the support of people like you. We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better conference in 2018. In the meantime, you can find us on Facebook to see photos and stay up-to-date on how you are helping. Huge thanks to all who believe in our youth!

CeCe Horbat, left, and Emmajane Hoffman, of the Multicultural Youth Program.

CeCe Horbat is the Diversity, Equity and Multiculturalism Coordinator at Spectrum, as well as the AmeriCorps member serving in our Multicultural Youth Program.

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