|
Storybook Archives
- Angela's
Story
Project: Metamorphosis
Organization: Janus Youth Programs, Inc.
Portland, OR
 Angela
was 14. Like any teenager she felt immortal, and like
any teen she also had her hopes and dreams. Hopes to
graduate from school, to go to college, to get a good
job, and even to have a family of her own some day.
Unlike most teens, she was missing a key ingredient
to achieve any of her dreams: a home.
At 14 Angela was living on the streets of downtown Portland.
Addicted to drugs. Headed toward a too-early death.
"I was born in New York City and raised in New
York and Eugene. I left home for good at 14. I was drawn
to street life whether it was squatting with gutter
punks in the Village or staying in hotels and school
buses on a Grateful Dead tour. Drugs were a part of
all of these subcultures and I was strung out on heroin
at 14. Drugs left me broke, homeless and desperate,"
she remembers.
At 18 Angela was employed as a youth outreach worker
for the Metamorphosis Project mentoring other homeless
youth into recovery. She was frank at her interview.
"I began a long journey
of personal recovery when I was 16. This journey brought
me to three methadone clinics, six detox centers, jail
a couple of times, outpatient four times, inpatient
four times and the emergency room three times. I understand
the lure of street life and drugs. I also understand
the self-hatred and despair that drugs can cause us
to feel. I believe I would be a valuable asset to both
the youth and your organization."
"Why are you interested in becoming a Peer Outreach
Worker?"
"Life is short and precious. The chance to have
a job that enhances the lives of others as well as myself
is the opportunity of a lifetime."
At 20 Angela is a pre-med major
at Portland State University with a 4.0 GPA preparing
for a life of helping others.
A miracle? No. A Metamorphosis.
The dictionary defines a metamorphosis as "a change
in physical form, structure, or substance especially by
supernatural means." Here at Janus Youth Programs
in southwest Oregon, Metamorphosis is a project to engage
homeless youth with alcohol and drug problems in leaving
street life forever. For Angela and the number of teens
like her who have experienced the Metamorphosis program,
it represents the return of her hopes and dreams and the
confidence that she will attain them.
|
