I have Darrico Murray with me today, how long have you been involved with Daybreak and how did you get connected with us?
Yeah, my time with Daybreak started a little over 19 years ago. I got connected with Daybreak through some work that I was doing in the community in the Wayne Ave. area and some young people I was working with through a school setting.
I applied for a job and worked with a few of the people who were there at that time to start working in the shelter and then eventually started in the housing program.
The organization had a really great reputation, and I really wanted to be a part of what they were doing.
I have a significant youth focus in what I do. So that’s really what it was.
It was kind of history. I filled out an application and took on an interview and then, next thing you know I was with Daybreak, and I spent a significant time in my career there.
That was after they’d moved from the Wayne Ave. building, is that right?
When I first started, we were actually on Wayne Ave. My career there started about 3 years prior to the transition to the Patterson building.
What was that like being a part of that transition over to the new facility?
It was interesting because we always operated out of two facilities. We had our Wayne St. building and then we also had our administrative and outreach offices, which were at the lower part of South Patterson.
And so, there was always this disconnect. Daybreak always had this huge family feel and family connection. So when we started making the transition, it was hard because you get used to the old building, the nostalgia and everything like that.
You have the whole team and the old shelter and everything’s right there in that space.
But then when we saw what we were transitioning into and the vision and it became real somewhere around 2008, it really caused us to shift our mindset. But I will say it was difficult to let go of that space.
We loved what we called The Bridge back then. It was kind of a second home for most of us.
That’s one way of changing, but how else have you seen Daybreak change since you first started 15 years ago with them?
Wow. Well, I mean, when you think about the shelter we used to have on Wayne, I mean, it started with kids who would share rooms.
So you’d have like four or five kids in one room. They were of course minors at that time. The staff would be present there and the case managers.
But when you look at it today and what it’s become, you’re talking 16 adult beds and add 8 to 10 juvenile beds. You talk about a massive structure with industrial kitchens and therapeutic services and all these different things.
Just watching how Daybreak has shifted to meet the need as it’s grown in the community is huge. The way we used to do the housing program; we didn’t have any on site housing.
All of our clients were sent into community-based housing. A youth would come in and they’d meet with one of us, the case managers in the housing program. We would start them on the path to getting a housing option, connecting with that apartment and landlord, paying for that rent over periods of time.
What we saw was that a lot of our youth just weren’t ready. They weren’t ready to be out on their own. But there was really nothing we could do about that.
Our goal was always to teach them life skills, to develop them in their soft skills for employment, to help them with their education. But we didn’t have a space dedicated to doing that in a more strategic way.
When you see the shift from The Bridge where the kids used to come and meet and spend time with us to our Opportunity Zone and all those other spaces in our housing program that allow for us to have an onsite facility to meet the kids’ needs, I think that’s the biggest transition.
I think it came out of that need—of recognizing, that we were putting kids in apartments who just weren’t ready to be on their own.
That’s definitely a big change and a way to grow to meet that need. What would you say has surprised you the most in the time that you’ve known Daybreak? Daybreak’s always growing.
It’s always adapting, it’s always shifting, it’s always changing and transitioning.
But I think what surprises me the most is it has always been able to keep that family feel.
There used to be a motto, “this is our house, but it’s their home.”
And one of the things that was always widely recognized was Daybreak becomes a family for those youth who may not have that family support that they need to transition into adulthood.
What surprised me the most is that even as it’s grown and even as the structures have become more systemic, Daybreak still has that family feel.
You see it in the way the staff approach their work. You see it in the connections that the youth have.
I think that’s huge to me because usually when an organization grows, it becomes more cold and formless, but Daybreak really is able to maintain that family feel.
That’s amazing to me.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
I think that that is an important thing to be able to maintain with that age group, especially to have that kind of close to support.
What do you most enjoy about Daybreak and the work we do, besides the family feel?
I think the best part of it is, and I say this all the time, #1 the clients are with you for a majority of time, which gives you more opportunity to impact.
They’re with you when they come out of school, they’re with you when they get home from work, and so that gives you the opportunity for impact.
But I think the best part for me is watching how many young people the organization is able to take from point A to point B.
When you see a kid at their most vulnerable and then you watch that kid over time grow and become more empowered and more independent. And you watch them develop and start looking towards their careers. And you recognize that this was a kid at one point who maybe didn’t have a lot of emotional regulation. And now you’re able to sit down and have those conversations with them to demonstrate their maturity and their mental wellness and their growth in those areas.
I just think that is one of the most impressive things that I see.
It’s my favorite thing.
Even to this day, I still see some of my first clients from 2006 who are now in their 30s and headed towards their 40s. And they are progressing and they’re still growing and they’re excited to tell me about things that they’ve achieved. Some of them are married and some of them have bought homes.
That’s just beautiful to know that Daybreak was a part of that cycle and has contributed to helping those young people who didn’t have hope become productive citizens and really reach their goals.
I really love that about the organization.
Yeah, that is awesome. I can only imagine going from when you first met them to owning a home now, that’s astronomically different.
Yeah. It’s one of the best things.
It’s what still gives me the nostalgia of Daybreak, even though I’m not there anymore and I haven’t been there for a while.
I get to still see those youth who are still doing well.
And it’s really impressive.
That’s awesome. Even though you’re no longer an employee with us, you are still involved as someone I see regularly at events and things. We are greatly appreciative of people like you who support us in the work we do for Miami Valley’s homeless youth.
Daybreak will always have my support.
I would say as much as we’ve invested in young people, Daybreak also invests in its staff.
I grew a lot at Daybreak. The person that I am today, the Executive Director that I’ve become for a nonprofit organization, it started it with my work at Daybreak.
If it wasn’t for that experience in my life, I don’t think that I’d have become the person that I am. I really appreciate that Daybreak is always investing in and growing people.
Thank you, Darrico! Make sure you’re all caught up on 50 Faces 50 Voices interviews and stay tuned for more next week!