Portland State Magazine Spring 2007

"A single caring adult can change a child's life," says Mac Prichard, Reclaiming Futures' communications director. "We ask people to contribute their time and their experience. It can make all the difference to these kids." Tiffiney Hendon, a Reclaiming Futures graduate, succinctly sums up the benefits of the program on its www.whenyouwere15.org Web site. "I had to change my whole life and deal with very hard personal issues every day," writes Hendon. "Who helps you through chat? It surely wasn't the friends I'd used [drugs] with. It was caring adults." ON THE W EB site, whenyouwere15. org, young people and their mentors share stories of what life was like when they were teens-and what life is like now. The site also offers invaluable direction to adults interested in mentoring teens. Abbey Scamp-O'Connor MSW '02, Hendon's staff mentor and a mental health consultant for the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice, is equally enthusiastic about Reclaiming Futures. "Multnomah County had no program for juve- nile offenders with drug and alcohol problems before Reclaiming Futures," she says. "They have put our treatment and rehabilitation options on a whole different plane. Now these kids have a choice chat could have a lasting effect on their lives." Recently, Multnomah County Com– munity Justice staff went to Salem to seek support for the program from the Oregon Legislature. They asked some of their graduates to come along. One was Nazario, who stood before the Legislature and cold his story-living proof that the program works. "That was huge for him," says his mother, Donna. "He really wanted to help them get funding. He knows the program works." "It's so rare, in one's professional life, to see a problem and to participate in developing a creative solution chat really works," says Nissen, Reclaiming Futures' national director. "We've seen the benefits right away." ■ Jeff Kuechle, a Portlandfreelance writer, wrote the articles "We Mean Business" and "Cracking the Code" in the winter 2007 Portland State Magazine. Living with his mom (top photo) and sisters, Julian Nazario has earned his GED and is working for the Youth Employment Institute removing graffiti. He hopes to attend Western Oregon University this fall. 18 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE SPRING 2007