Courtney, tell us what was the moment of instability that first brought you to Daybreak?
The moment of instability that got me into Daybreak was that I was living with my sister. I really didn’t have any aspirations to do anything in my life. I didn’t graduate from high school on time because I had to pass my OGT science and I didn’t know where to get help to even have that happen.
So, it made me come here and fix my life and figure out what I need to do to be successful.
Did you end up completing your OGT then and getting your high school diploma?
Yes, and I realized that when I did do the OGT science test, that was my highest score out of all of them. So, that was a good thing.
How excited were you?
I was very excited because I don’t know science, but that instructor helped me get the higher score.
Nice! So, was that after you came to Daybreak?
Yeah.
And did you end up doing your GED or your diploma?
It was my high school diploma.
Then definitely a lot of things changed after you came here. Tell us what services, specifically at Daybreak, helped you build that stability?
It’s just staff in general that were there for me. My case manager, I don’t remember her name, but she helped me a lot just being accountable for my actions. I was always a homebody anyway, I really listened to the rules and stayed to myself. I made friends here, but I needed to make it my complete mission is to be successful and find my own way of life.
I’m happy that I took time to just be here and realize that not everyone is out to get you or see you fail. It made me realize—the people that helped me made me realize—that I can help other people too.
That sounds like a really big perspective shift to have. So, then my next question is give us a picture of your life today because you’re back at Daybreak in a very different capacity. Tell us about that.
Yes, I am here as an intern. Now that I’m 29 years old, I have no children, I’m in school for my master’s degree in social work. I started off here getting my associates degree at Clark State then went to school to get my bachelor’s at Franklin University and now I’m at Indiana Wesleyan University to get my master’s in social work.
Awesome! If you could have told yourself back then before you came to Daybreak that “oh, by the way you’re going to be getting your master’s in this many years,” would you have believed yourself?
No, because I told myself I’m not going back to school after my bachelor’s but I’m here. It made me realize that I love working with children. I currently work at a residential facility with children through the county so I love what I do. It’s challenging but I know I have a mission to continue to help youth figure out what they want to do with their life and be supportive of them because I never judge them based off what people tell me.
I learn from them by having interactions with them and not putting that negative aspect on them just because somebody told me that they have anger problems, or they like to fight staff, or they like to fight people. I see youth as just being a human being that needs that love and support they never had before.
It’s letting them know that you have somebody here that wants to support you that wants to see you succeed but you have to put that pain behind you because that’s not your future that’s just the moment right now.
Everything is temporary but you have to understand that if you want better for yourself, you have to take accountability for your actions and move forward and let your mind figure out what you want to do with your life and how you want to do it because you’re the only one that has the power to make it happen.
Your mom can’t do it. Your brother can’t do it. Your sister can’t do it. Your uncle can’t do it. Your aunt can’t do it. It’s all up to you if you want to succeed that’s your job to say, “you know what, I can do this. I have to be positive that everything that I’m doing is going to pay off.”
You have to stop doing the negative things and just worry about what’s good happening in your life. You’re in a place where you have support, you have people that want to see you succeed, it might not be your immediate family. But you got staff, you got peers. But you have to believe in yourself first.
That’s really good advice for all humans, I think. It seems like Daybreak definitely changed your perspective of how you view other people and giving that support. When did you decide you wanted to help others with social work and go into that field?
My own case manager here because if it wasn’t for her or any staff here I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be where I am without Daybreak in general because there were so many people that were behind me, that supported me, that said, “you are a success story. You did everything you need to do. You went through the whole program, the shelter, the upstairs program, the group home, came back here and got your own apartment upstairs, then out in the community.”
I did the whole thing without having to pretend to be someone I wasn’t. I was me and I stayed me and did everything I need to do to better myself and also try to help people along the way while I was trying find myself.
I think it can be hard to understand that you can still be yourself but that power, taking back that power, and doing it— I like the way you said your mission was to be a success and find your own way of life.
Everybody’s different. Not everybody has the same way of living but you have to understand that we all make mistakes, how you are going to learn from them is the most important thing. We all learn differently, and we all come from different backgrounds so you can’t judge a person based off what they do because that’s not your journey. You have your own journey as other people have theirs.
You have to understand that not everybody’s going to think the way you think, not everybody’s going to act the way you act. People grow up differently. People have different environments that make them react or behave a certain way. You have to understand that I’m not judging you. I’m saying I can help you by expressing how you’re feeling, how you’re doing or whatever it might be.
I’m here. I’m a listening ear. I’m not going to judge you. I’m going to give you advice. I’m going to suggest some things but it’s basically for your own good because I know I can see what you can do but you can’t see yourself and what you can do because your mind is so corrupted with all of the negative things that are going on in your life. You got to think about the positive things you’re alive still. You have people that support you, it might not be your family, but you got staff and you got other people that want you to do better. But you have to understand that not everybody’s going to want the best thing for you. Your peers are not going to want the best thing for you so you got to surround yourself with positive people all the time to where you start thinking positive. That’s really important.
That is really crucial and that’s something that definitely the youth that we see need to know. And I think also adults and other humans need to know and think about that effect for sure. If you could tell people just one quick thing about Daybreak, what would you want them to know?
There’s not one thing; there’s a couple of things.
This is the place for growth, for understanding, for positivity, for love, diversity, and care.
This place does no harm to people, it only makes you better. And like I said, if it wasn’t for Daybreak, I would not be where I am today.
I don’t even know where I would be. I probably would have given up on life a long time ago but because I took the time out, it’s not because of you being labeled as a bad kid you just need that extra type of love, extra attention than other kids might need. It’s the perfect place for any kid that’s in any situation that just needs that extra love and support that they need in life to follow their dreams and goals.
That’s the best way I can tell anybody is that this place is where it’s at.
Thank you so much and thanks for your time!
Check out last week’s interview with Leah Adams and our 50 Faces 50 Voices page for the latest interviews.