Beyond the Surface, The Real Life Stories of The Youth Project

May 2013

Beyond The Surface.

The Real Life Stories of the Youth Project

The Youth Project is honored to work with so many brave teenagers, willing to share their lives with us. Each month, we'll bring you firsthand accounts of pain, trauma and hope -- from the teens themselves. Here are a few of their stories.

14 y/o transgender (female to male) student has struggled with coming out and the disapproval of his parents. When meeting with Youth Project staff, he described desperately wanting to shop in the boys department while his parents were forcing him to shop in the girls department. After sharing his story, he looked up to the staff and stated, "You get it. No one has understood me before."

16 y/o female - working through the stages of grief after losing her older brother to an overdose. She is also struggling with the loss of her mother who passed away after giving birth to her.

15 y/o female - struggling through the loss of her friend by suicide. She is working on being able to better communicate her feelings to her parents whom she feels act more like her friends than her parents.

14 y/o male - struggling in school. He has a girlfriend who is 6 months pregnant. He is working through the upcoming changes in his life and how to provide for a child at such a young age while still in school.

15 y/o female - molested by her older brother as a child. She is struggling emotionally with moving on with her life and has found herself acting out at those individuals who remind her of her brother.

14 y/o female - working with the SCV Youth Project for the past 6 months. Her cousin was accused of molesting another family member and was consequently removed from the family. She is very close with her cousin and worked through the emotions of the trial with her Youth Project counselor. This month the case was closed and all charges were dropped against her cousin. He is now back with the family and back at school. She thanks the Youth Project for their help through the past few months.

The Youth Project is celebrating 12 years of successfully providing free services to teens in the Santa Clarita Valley. Since their doors opened in 2000, the Youth Project has assisted more than 33,000 local families, including 29,000 youth and 6,000 adults.

To learn more about us and how you can help visit www.HelpNotHassle.org

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