YouthHope Foundation | PO Box 7803 Redlands, CA 92375 US
2023 Stories
Still a Work in Progress
My parents have been drug addicts their whole lives. When I was born, I lived in a drug house.
My parents started giving me drugs at 8 years old. I don’t understand why they would do it. They knew how addictive drugs were to them, so why would they knowingly give them to me at such a young age?
I’m 18 now and addicted to every drug you can imagine. I also developed seizures as a teenager. I have a trained dog that will help me when I have seizures and will make me sit down when I’m about to have one.
My dad passed away earlier this year and I haven't seen my mom in years. I have been couch surfing since my dad died and this morning I got kicked out of my friends house. I was walking down the street and my dog alerted me that I was going to have a seizure. I sat down on a lawn and had a seizure. After I came to, a woman was standing beside me asking if I was ok.
I told her that I’m scared I’m going to die. I don’t want to end up like my dad and I need help.
She called YouthHope and brought me to see Heidi.
When I walked in, I was greeted with warm smiles, food, and caring people.
I told them that I need help and I’m ready for rehab. They believed me and immediately got me into a rehab.
They drove me to a rehab, made sure I got everything set up and gave me a hug.
5 hours ago, I didn't know these people, and now they are my biggest cheerleaders. I’m so thankful!
I Won't Stop Fighting
I started coming to YouthHope a few years ago. It has always been a safe spot for me to hangout after school. I am guaranteed a meal, good conversation, and groceries.
I live with my mom who doesn't work. We don’t have a lot of money which means we don’t have much food. The grocery boxes from YouthHope have made it to where we are able to have 3 meals a day. That should be the norm, but before YouthHope, we were only able to eat 1 or 2.
I was so happy with how I was able to support my family by bringing groceries home.
Life was good until I came home to my house on fire. We still don’t know the cause, but my mom had a problem with hoarding, so whatever the cause was, the amount of stuff in our house just made more fuel for the fire.
I didn’t have a lot of stuff, but all the stuff I did have was gone. I was devasted.
My mom told me that night that I needed to find a place to stay. She was leaving town to go stay with her sister and there was no room for me.
So now I lost my home, my mom, and all of my stuff. The only place I could turn to was to YouthHope.
As soon as I walked through the door, every staff member was helping me find a place to live. After hours on the phone, they were able to find me a permanent residence for me until I turn 18.
I’m so thankful for YouthHope for being there for me and for continually helping me regardless of what my need is. With YouthHope, I know I will be ok. My life is changed because of YouthHope.
It's Not Always A Happy Ending
What happens when we don’t get the ending we hoped for? When dreams don’t come true and when young people die?
At YouthHope we have to face this reality more than we want.
This is a story of a young man that we tried our hardest to save.
He grew up in a house surrounded by drug users. He was born into circumstances that were unfair and so from an early age, he had to fight to not become an addict.
When he was 18 he moved into our YouthHope Housing. He was determined to not be like his family. He was drug free, alcohol free, in school full time, and working part time. He had a mentor that helped him and was there for him. He was doing amazing.
After a few months, he came to us to tell us that he couldn’t stay in the house anymore because the rules were too hard for him. We tried to talk to him and tried to get him to change his mind, but ultimately he left our Housing Program.
He moved back into his parents house and began using drugs again.
Last month, he overdosed. When the police found him, he was braindead and had no ID on him. They had to get his fingerprints so they could notify his family.
These types of stories break our heart. It reminds us that our work is far from over. If we can help one youth from experiencing this, then all of our work is worth it.
We hope this story stirs a fire in you to want to help stop youth homelessness and drug use. We can help save lives together.
A Barrier Broken
I live in motels. Every week we have to move to a different motel because you can’t stay longer than a week. I guess that means that I’m homeless and since I can’t remember the last time I lived in a real house, I’ve been homeless the majority of my life.
I have a mom but that’s the only family I have. I’ve never known my dad and don’t have any siblings that I’m aware of.
I’ve made some poor choices in my life which has left me with very little choices on how to finish school, but I’m not giving up.
I’ve been consistent on getting to school on time, getting passing grades, and staying on the right track this year.
I found out about YouthHope through some friends at school and knew that I had to stop by to see if they could help me.
Food is very hard to come by in my family. My mom can’t afford to buy a lot of food so most days I only eat meals at school.
When I started coming to YouthHope and learned about all the ways they could help, I found out that they will feed me anytime I need food. So now I stop by YouthHope before I go to school to eat breakfast, come back after school for dinner.
YouthHope also has provided me community service opportunities so I can get off of probation.
These things may seem small, but the barriers of hunger and community service provide a clearer pathway for me to reach success.
Thank you YouthHope for being here.
Help On The Way
I’ve been surrounded by chaos my whole life. From my earliest memories, I can remember my mom having different men over every night. She cared more about their feelings than my own. My parents were never together but my dad lives right next door. He constantly has drug dealers coming to his house to drop off drugs. I never had a safe place to go.
Even the neighborhood is unsafe. I've had friends and family members die because of drive by shootings on my street. No where is safe.
The place I felt safest was at school. Redlands High became my escape. I decided early on that I didn't want to be like my parents. I wanted to succeed, have a future, and have a stable life. I knew that graduating high school was the first step to achieving that.
When my mom told me that we were moving away from the Inland Empire I was furious. I didn't want to go to a new school.
I talked to my counselor and she told me about YouthHope. I went and met with Heidi and she offered the YouthHope Housing as an option.
I was so excited. I knew that this was the opportunity to continue to follow my dreams.
I’ve been in the YouthHope housing for over a year now. I have friends, mentors, and supporters.
For the first time in my life I feel safe. I have reliable housing that I know wont be pulled away from me and I can focus on finishing school and working toward my next dream of attending college.
Without YouthHope, I know that I wouldn’t be in this position. Thank you YouthHope!
A New Life
You could call me an original YouthHope kid. I was there back in the day when we hung out at parks and in parking lots. When YouthHope didn’t have a building. When we would spend hours in the hot sun or the pouring rain getting clothes, food, and help.
I didn't have a family growing up. I jumped from house to house and was rarely in safe situations. YouthHope became my family. Every free moment I would be at YouthHope and would stay as long as I could.
I don’t have the space to write out everything that YouthHope has helped me with, but a few of the things that stick out in my head are housing, jobs, food, clothes, therapy, advice, a shoulder to cry on, and a safe place to have fun.
I haven’t been to YouthHope in years because I’ve been self-sufficient for awhile. I recently had a church celebration and I invited the only family I have, Judy and Heidi.
When I heard about this celebration, people at YouthHope came to my mind instantly. Not only do I consider them my family, but I also know that without their help, I wouldn't be alive to even attend this celebration.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I wouldn't be here today without YouthHope.
If I didn’t have the stable housing, or the constant food, or help with job resumes, then I would have never gotten to this point. So when I stand on that stage tomorrow, I will be thinking of YouthHope and the people who poured into my life to make sure I succeeded.
A Home For Me
I’ve never had a home. Sure I’ve lived in houses before, but never a home. My whole life I’ve jumped from house to house, couch to couch, motel to motel. Never staying in one place long enough to meet the neighbors.
I guess that’s what happens when you have an unstable parent who chooses drugs over their family.
As I got older, I took on many of the same characteristics. They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree right?
I found myself in unsafe situations, moving drugs for cash. Its all I was taught and it was all I knew.
I found out about YouthHope through living on the streets. I started going for the free food. I knew I could get a hot meal from them 4 days a week.
When Heidi learned about my situation, she told me that I needed a real job and stable housing.
She helped me right away and in the years that I have known her she has gotten me into every type of housing. Rehab, long term housing, a tent, back with my family, etc.
Nothing ever really stuck because I wasn't ready to make the necessary changes.
This year that changed. I decided that I want to do better. I came in and told Heidi and she suggested that I sign up to get into the new hotel project in Redlands. I signed up and got accepted. I just moved in and I feel so good having a place to call home. My home. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m on the right path. Thank you YouthHope!
Keep Moving Forward
I’ve been surrounded by drug addicts my whole life. My mom was killed by her boyfriend when I was young and my dad has been on drugs my whole life which meant that I was in and out of foster care. The only people that come to our house are druggies. It’s all I have ever known.
I decided early on that I don’t want the same life as I was born into. When I turned 15, I found YouthHope through friends at school. YouthHope has been a safe place for me to get help. I don’t have much in my life because of the unstable family I grew up in, so YouthHope helped me get my ID, my birth certificate, get into counseling, and create a job resume.
I went to school for as long as I could, but because of the drugs that were in my system when I was born, I struggle with a lot of mental illness and learning disabilities so I ended up dropping out before I could graduate.
After I dropped out, I turned 18 and had nowhere to go, I went to YouthHope looking for a place where I could live so I could start my life.
Heidi helped me find a safe house where I could stay. I’ve been there a few months and it’s the perfect place for me in this time of my life.
After I got settled in, I went to YouthHope and they helped me get a job which has helped me tremendously.
Some days I get discouraged with how much further I should be in my life, but everyone at YouthHope is always there to remind me of how far I’ve come and how bright of a future I have.
Thank you YouthHope for always being there for me and for helping me become the best version of myself.
A Cry For Help
All I remember from my childhood is yelling and crying. From an early age, me and my dad would fight all the time. I would do something dumb, he would yell, I would yell, he would hit me, I would cry, and then I would run away down the street until we both calmed down.
This was repeated over and over until I was 16 when he kicked me out for good. He said I was ungrateful and he was done.
I tried moving to Vegas to stay with my cousins, but once I got there, I found out that they were nearly impossible to live with. They were mean and the job they promised wasn't even available.
After 2 months, I had no choice but to move back to Redlands. I started living in my car until I could figure things out.
I’ve been going to YouthHope since I was 14 and Heidi has been helping me anytime I needed it.
When I moved back to live in my car, I came to YouthHope broken and tired.
Heidi instantly started making phone calls and by the end of the day, she had found a foster home for me where I could move in and be safe.
I’ve been there for 6 months now and I’m so happy. I have a safe, stable place to live with people who respect me and where I can continue to grow and develop.
Without YouthHope, I would still be sleeping in my car. No one would have helped me and no one would of spent hours on the phone finding me a safe place to go.
Thank you YouthHope for always wanting the best for me and fighting for me!