Life was very busy for Anna growing up. Her parents both worked a lot and as the oldest of the children, she carried a lot of responsibility in her home. She had to grow up quickly and do a lot of parenting for her siblings. School just wasn’t that high on the priority list. She struggled with schoolwork, with her peers, and with getting the help she needed from teachers. She felt lost and invisible and that nobody cared. She stopped asking for help and got further and further behind until she dropped out when she was 17.
Anna heard about YOOP from her cousin who was a YOOP participant. She decided to start 2020 off by doing something for her future. She enrolled on December 30, 2019. Anna felt that the YOOP staff believed in her and actually cared if she came into the skill center. If Anna missed an appointment, the staff would call and check on her. YOOP gave her life some structure, something she had missed out on having while growing up. Anna started to believe in herself and gained confidence. She said, “Staff didn’t judge me. YOOP is a place I like to go just to say hi. I felt welcomed.” Over the next two and a half years Anna completed a lot of milestones. She completed Financial Literacy and Rethinking Careers, explored the work world, and did a job shadow at Homeward Bound. During this time she also worked four different short-term jobs, each lasting three to six months. YOOP was able to support her in these jobs with transportation needs and work clothes. Anna will soon be graduating from YOOP and she is ready to be on her own. She hopes to go back to school at some point to get a veterinary degree. For now, she and her husband are both working two jobs and making plans for the future that might include children.
When asked about her accomplishments, she lists: Got my GED, married my best friend, and moved out of state to start my life with my husband. What is her advice? “If you want to change your life and accomplish your goals, enroll at YOOP!”
