Sam K

Connection

The Power of Connection

in Our Youth  by Sam K 0 comments

The opposite of addiction is not sobriety, but human connection. – Johann Hari

Erika has been at The Launch Pad for almost a year now, and on April 17th we were able to celebrate her two years of sobriety. It hasn’t been an easy road for her, but she was thrilled to be able to rejoice in this huge victory.

This has been something we’ve been able to guide her through as she’s learned how to identify and eliminate triggers, ask for assistance, and maintain a stable community that will assist her stay clean. Erika is just one of our many success stories, and we are so proud of her for everything she has accomplished. We know that it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to stay sober, but Erika has proved that it is possible.

Stable housing has been a crucial component, since it has allowed her to have a secure location to return to when she is stressed or needs to take a breath. She has been required to face up to her responsibilities and accept responsibility at The Launch Pad. She is presently attending Paul Mitchell’s cosmetology program and has just over six months until she graduates. She is energized and driven to obtain her license and begin a career in a salon.

The Launch Pad’s approach with our resident’s is to help them overcome the trauma of their prior wounds, as well as any residual effects, and move forward with healing and quantifiable objectives. Watching our former foster youth thrive is a tremendous gift. We have a team of very dedicated, hardworking and compassionate volunteers who are committed to our residents’ success.

The Launch Pad has been a blessing for Erika, as well as for many other residents who were once homeless and hopeless. We invite you to learn more about what we do and consider partnering with us as a mentor.

The First Step

in Our Youth  by Sam K 0 comments

We often get asked “where do you begin?” when a resident joins the Launch Pad.

And the answer is, we begin, after the initial move in, with a series of foundational steps geared towards real life training.

But it all starts with opening a bank account and learning how to budget.

Transitioning to adulthood and independence is challenging for any teenager, but the transition to life outside of foster care may be even more intimidating for teenagers who have spent their entire lives in the system. The knowledge and skills they need cannot be learned on the spot at the last minute as they exit care. In most cases the preparation needed for the challenges that come are not taught prior to leaving foster care. And this void of life skills training is where we like to start.

Underprivileged youth often pay in money orders and certified checks. At the Launch Pad it is a value to open a bank account and begin to gain access to the technology world as a start to a long process of learning the necessary life skills needed for long term sustainability.

Yessenia, a new resident at the Launch Pad, didn’t even know where to begin because she left foster care without her original birth certificate or social security card. Left to her own devices, she would certainly have faced daunting challenges.

We have come alongside her to help her apply for and obtain the necessary identification to begin the process.

This is why the Launch Pad housing is so essential for young people who have just left foster care, as it allows us to walk beside and assist them in acquiring the knowledge and abilities they require to live as independent adults.

We’re glad to be able to enter into this gap with foster youths such as Yessenia and assist them in getting the support they need to succeed.

Jordon's story

Jordyn’s Story

in Our Youth  by Sam K 0 comments

As I sit with the most amazing little boy in my lap, with the comfort and privilege to know I am secure in all ways, I am content. This security is all the more complete because my son, the most important thing in my life, is safe and thriving.

It fills me with the utmost honor and gratitude to dwell upon the reflections of my life.

Unfortunately, the beginning of my journey was predominately unpleasant. This logic might be mysterious to some, I mean “why would you be so grateful for something you yourself define as ‘unpleasant’” However, it’s not the constant barrage of hardships I’m honored and grateful for, it’s the beauty and rescue that stand out.

It’s the reality that with the unconditional love, guidance, and support of a few angels along the way, I managed to create a beautiful and vivid life with a stable and healthy family.

Let’s take a gaze through the looking glass to an eighteen-year-old me.

At eighteen, I was newly “graduated” from minor foster care. How I got there in the first place is convoluted and graphic, to say the least.

On top of absent parents, neglect and trauma, I found myself on my own and fighting to survive. Kids don’t end up in foster care thousands of miles from where they’re originally from. You can fill in the blanks as you’d like.

I was bouncing from friends’ couches, motels, and rented rooms, trying my best to be successful in college, hold down a job, and find healing from the deep wounding of my childhood and trauma.

By God’s grace, I was put in contact with the gems of humanity that brought me to TLF. In many ways, they saved my life.

Teen Leadership Foundation provided me with stability for the very first time in my life. They gave me a safe home and unfettered access to any and all resources someone in my position could need to recover and succeed. They introduced me to the concept and framework for what “community” looks like and why a good life necessitates its presence.

Thanks in very large part to TLF, I’ve been able to travel to multiple countries, contribute to greater humanity, graduate from a university, secure a wonderful job in the nonprofit sector, get married and have the most gorgeous baby boy.

The women I interacted with at TLF modeled to me what I imagined a good mother would be like. I now get to emulate that love and mutual respect with my own child, finally breaking cycles, and changing the world in my own little way and corner of the world.

-Jordyn