Lost souls

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=661014179


So let me just say that you need to see this video. I feel very strongly that we are not helping enough of the young people out there. I physically hurt when I think of all of the teens I wasn't able to 'save' the past 6 years. I pray each night that those I knew, and those I don't, are okay, are safe, are warm.

I pray each night for my new friend Kacy, who is pretty much out there on her own, and making it. She is not on the street, she is not on drugs, she is positive, eager, and mature. But she is doing it on her own. She is too young to be cut loose by her parents.

I pray each night for a girl I once knew: Tami. She was a mess, and she did her best to push me away, but she still has a piece of my heart. Last I knew, she was living with a man that could be her father...no job, no money, no education, no meds.....her mom is deceased, her father is/was an addict, and she was out there alone, so having this older man seems to be a dream...but I know it is not. She deserves more than a beating.

I pray each night for a guy I knew: Tim. He did his best to drive me crazy, but again, he had no one, and he has a piece of my heart, still. Father deceased, mom missing in action, for many, many years. I don't know where he is. I imagine he is probably living with friends, but I pray he isn't on the street. And if he is, I pray that he survives, that he doesn't piss off the wrong person, that he doesn't say the wrong thing, that he stays away from the drugs.

And most of all, I pray for a brave, hard, gorgeous girl I knew: Jay. She was tough. She began prostituting at around age 12 or 13. No one seemed to want her. When I met her, there was a part of me that was afraid that there was no saving her. She was so 'street', and I knew right away that she had seen more shit than a lot of adults out on the streets. It took a long time, but I got her away from her pimp, and out of the city. She started school, after being out for well over 2 years (why didn't someone in the school district speak up??), and proved to herself that she was smart and more than a little able to excel. I realized pretty quickly that there was a little girl inside that hard woman, who wanted to be a kid, needed reassurance, and needed LOVE.

Jay disappeared right before her junior year of high school ended, right before her 17th birthday. I have a feeling I know what area she is in, and I am pretty sure she is prostituting again. It breaks my heart that such a strong presence is out there on the street, selling her body to survive. (and NO, she was not a drug addict, although almost 3 years has gone by since I last saw her, so anything is possible). Her generation needs people like her to make positive changes, but she is lost......

Please, if you know someone who is close to being homeless, or a teen who is struggling, please, please do not turn away. Please help any way you can. Our future depends on these teens.