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A SUCCESS STORY | Pay It Forward
Stephanie Mastropietro, a therapist at Cray Youth Services and an extraordinary young woman, was instrumental in initiating an amazing "Pay It Forward" project that benefited the Crisis Shelter.
David Copper, Executive Director of Cray Youth and Family Services, offered each staff member at Cray $200.00 to be used to help better him or herself. This money could be used for a fitness membership, purchase of exercise equipment, a class or any other wellness item. Stephanie asked if she might use her money as a Pay It Forward Project, which in turn would help better her spiritually. Mr. Copper agreed so Stephanie asked each of the eight girls in the Mullen group home to write proposals for local agencies to receive the $200.00, with Cray staff choosing the winner anonymously.
The young women researched local agencies, spoke to people within that agency about their needs and wrote the most heartfelt proposals. These essays were so moving that other staff at Cray Youth and Family were complelled to offer their $200.00 so each young woman's agency would receive a monetary donation. There are moments in life that bring you to your knees, sometimes bad, sometimes good. This was one of those good moments for Stephanie. What had started as her teaching a lesson in gratitude to these young women turned into a lesson in humility for Stephanie. The two young women who chose the Crisis Shelter to write about each had benefited in some way from Crisis Shelter services.
One would think that the blessings afforded in this Pay It Forward project were abundant at this point. However, the greatest blessing came December 1, 2010 when each girl, now all discharged from the program, were invited back to Cray for a Pay It Forward dinner in honor of their hard work.
During dinner, the thank you letters from local agencies were read. The young women were told that their essays had been so touching that it planted a seed within the agency and, and because of them, that seed had bloomed into another Pay It Forward. Two staff members at the Crisis Shelter were so encouraged by these women's stories that they also Paid It Forward and two additional charities benefited from their generosity.
Stephanie and the entire Cray staff were again humbled by these phenomenal young women, some who are excelling, some of whom are still struggling and in need of the agencies that they wrote essays for, but each who expressed gratitude.
One of the young women who wrote an essay for the Crisis Shelter asked to speak at the dinner. She simply said of the Crisis Shelter, "Thank you, when I am there it feels like home."
There is no greater praise we can receive; it is our goal to create an atmosphere where our residents and clients feel safe and comfortable - where healing can begin and hope can be restored. | 
