Meaghan McConnell hasn’t always made the best choices.
She has done drugs, had a few outstanding warrants and has been in and out of jail. In September 2009, deciding to turn her life around, McConnell turned herself into the police. And although she’s met a few bumps along the road, the 21-year-old has stayed clean since.
McConnell attributes much of her turnaround to Redmond-based Friends of Youth (FOY).
“Anything I really needed, they were there to back me up,” she said.
On Friday, the Issaquah resident shared her story at FOY’s sixth annual fundraiser luncheon, which was hosted by Dave Ross of KIRO radio. More than 500 people attended the event, which raised more than $150,000 and counting.
The event, “Celebration of Youth,” held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bellevue, highlighted the different services FOY provides for teens and young adults on the Eastside: Emergency shelters, transitional living programs, and employment and permanent housing support for homeless individuals; youth and family services for at-risk youth and their families who may need counseling for various reasons; home-visiting services for young, first-time parents; and foster homes for youths ages 11 to 18.
“I like to say that all of these kids are our kids,” said Joan Campbell, FOY president and chief executive officer. “(The services and programs we offer are) demanding but rewarding work.”
Serving 5,000 to 6,000 young people every year, McConnell’s tale is just one among numerous success stories about youth getting their lives back on track. FOY board of directors president Bill Savoy also shared a story with the crowd about a young man who turned his life around after working with FOY, reading a thank you letter from his family.
While the event brought some of these stories to light, the luncheon also acknowledged the agency’s many supporters — in terms of financial support as well as volunteers who contributed time throughout the year and for the event itself.
An ongoing theme of the afternoon was the importance and significance of having a supportive, caring adult in a young person’s life. Speakers discussed FOY’s original purpose of providing support and human services to at-risk foster children. One of the nonprofit’s original foster parents, Clayton Dilworth, was in attendance and recognized for his contributions to FOY’s cause. Dilworth, now in his 90s, said he still remembers the boys he helped and worked with through the years. Those “boys” would now be in their 60s.
McConnell said the services FOY provides are very important for young people like her who have been subject to prejudice because of her past. She said essentially, being an ex-convict, people take one look at her background and assume history will repeat itself.
“I used to do that but I don’t anymore,” she said of her criminal history.
McConnell, who has moved back in with her mother for now, added that as a young person, it’s hard enough to find a place to live or find a job. A background like hers just adds more strikes against her. But FOY caseworkers have worked with her, helped her find a job, which she has held for a few years, and are helping her find a place of her own.
The support has made a huge difference for McConnell, which is why she shared her story at the luncheon. She hopes her story will let others know that help is available.
“I’ve had a crap life,” she said. “Because I’ve gone through bad things, other people don’t have to because they can see what a difference some things can make.”
