As a child, I looked forward to school. If I had a choice, I would have chosen to live there. In fact, in middle school I was one of three people to receive an award for never missing a day from the 6th through the 8th grade. School was my safe zone, a place I felt I could be me. Of course, it had its challenges.

In elementary school, I was placed in the Special Education classes because I was experiencing learning difficulties. Being in Special Ed classes and one of only two African Americans in the elementary school in a community of .06% African American population, and being adopted by a Caucasian family, was a challenge. But in school, I felt safe. My bus driver always had a smile for me and my teachers were always positive, something I hadn’t experienced often in life. I also received what I believe to be the start of the foundation of my beliefs: my peers elected me a Natural Helper and it meant a lot, something I took very seriously. I met the first hero in my life in my DARE officer, who I looked up to throughout school. I knew I had been taken away from my mom due to her drug use and I vowed never to do drugs at that time. In fifth grade as I was leaving elementary school, I wrote a poem for my teacher. She was a published writer and after reading it, she cried. She encouraged me to keep writing and I did, becoming a published poet in middle school.

Middle school brought more challenges: I seemed to have weird situations happen more and more in my life and at school. One day I got off the bus at school and faced a kid throwing a flying side kick at me, calling me a nigger. At the time, I did not know what the word meant. I remember being stressed out, wondering what it was I did to upset him. Another time outside of school, two 8th graders smiled at me in a store while my sister shopped. They came up to me in a friendly way and talked to me. Then one pointed at something and the other one hit me as hard as he could when my back was turned. I looked at them in shock not understanding what had happened. I think they thought I was going to get knocked out but I wasn’t. They smirked and hurried away. I just stared in disbelief. I went outside to my sister’s car and sat, not understanding what had happened or why. I was confused and didn’t know what I did wrong so I didn’t say anything to my sister when she got in the car and drove us home. These situations happened often and always thought I had done something wrong. I was confused but no matter what was going on in my life, I loved being at school. I wanted to play football but my family said no, it was too rough. They wanted me to play basketball. I had never played before on an organized team until the 8th grade. Needless to say, I was a little behind but caught on. In middle school at a school function, I was the first to dunk a basketball. I remember the kids and teachers enjoying it so much. I didn’t mind that I tore all the skin to the bone off my finger and smiled all the way to the nurse’s office.

Prior to my freshman year, I ran away from my adoptive parent’s house and became homeless, couch-surfing as well as living in tents, cars, and garages. At the time, I didn’t see it as homelessness. In high school, I created relationships with teachers and built trust. I learned to stay focused and to express myself through writing. I played basketball, got better at it, and began to develop a purpose. 

In my junior year in high school, I became a member of Running Start, where Junior and Seniors in high school could attend college classes for credit if qualified. Then in my senior year, my biological mom passed away. I was devastated. It was at this time that I realized the few moments I had spent with teachers and coaches were real moments, important moments. Many of them came to me when I quit high school, many of them encouraged me and reminded me who I was. At that time in my life, school was a big part of saving me from the decline I was willing to embark upon. Because of the support from teachers and others in the educational system allowing me to come back, I graduated on time. I received my diploma; I had overcome the obstacles life had placed in my path.

This story isn’t about me. Details of the story of my life are included, but this story is about the people that were present in my life at the time. Because of the efforts they made to see one person succeed, to give hope and to play within the rules, teachers and the educational system helped me be free.

I never spent a lot of time with any one teacher. I never did after school things with them or had extra time, but they all meant something to me. They made a difference in my life through their methods of teaching. My English teacher taught with passion and smiled with joy. My math teacher was stern and rigid, but cracked a smile when you thought you’d break. My coach yelled and screamed, but when I gave everything I had, he saw that and congratulated me. My assistant principal guided me through the hard times. My counselor just smiled, spoke softly, and I listened. They all made a difference in my life by doing the job they loved. But when it came to doing a little more, they did it by choice with a voice I heard purely through feeling. They made a difference in my life because they were part of a family I had created. They were the reality that was my support system because of what they do. I would never have returned to school if my coach, school administers and teachers had not spoken with me. This is a story about them. Not just these individuals, but also the individuals they represent and the system in which they work: teachers and bus drivers in the public and private school system.

Our society puts more responsibility on the teachers of today, more than their job descriptions outline and many of them want to do what they can to make a difference in the lives of our children. Many teachers see the pain in the faces of their students and the challenges they face. Many would like to suggest a positive program, activities, resources and even educational tools that might be available to their students. However, without a tool providing access to the options and opportunities that are out there, it makes it hard to do so. The CAN Project is looking to create that tool and a resource that teachers can use to refer, suggest, and provide help to those youth who are in-need.

I believe that by teaming with school districts, teachers, and parent-teacher associations across the nation, we can raise the funding needed to create the CAN Project, the Community Activity Network, a locally focused but national resource. Teachers made a difference in my life. I want to create a resource with their assistance that can make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of youth across the nation that are in-need of a suggestion, an idea or a positive environment in which to be a part. I believe together, with their support, we can implement the CAN Project across the nation.

For the past three years, I have been a manager of a self-storage facility in Snohomish County Washington. As a manager, I have been able to cut theft down by 80% while raising gross monthly income up by 17%. It has been a successful partnership thus far and the position has allowed me to put more time into development of the CAN Project and I AM ME Program. When I started this position, I didn't realize the education I would receive on how homelessness and drugs affect a business, a group of businesses, or a community. I have always worked with people in-need from a service standpoint and not as much from a business that is being affected by the actions of the people in-need.

This past week as I walked the facility, I had to ask a homeless individual sleeping in front of a business to leave the property. Yesterday, I had to clean up heaps of trash scattered in front of a business by "dumpster divers" (individuals that regularly go through a property’s garbage for recyclables and food) and today I had to pick up a pile of mail that looked to be stolen from a nearby neighborhood. After cleaning this specific area, I went to another area of the property for a security check and had to pick up a syringe left on the pavement. Some would say this seemed to be a bad week, but unfortunately, it is a common occurrence.

Everyday my staff and I have to keep an eye out for addicts, drug dealers, prostitutes, and criminals that are looking to take advantage of our property. Daily, we encounter situations and stories being told. I have been blessed to have the background and experience of working with people in-need, so my patience is greater than most. We handle each individual as a person, a community member, and someone that can follow the guidelines required by the property. It is a challenge because I am not providing services or resources that could assist the people we meet. However, with a program like the CAN Project, I can at least suggest a resource or even research that resource to better locate local services that I can suggest options and opportunities to individuals “in-need.”. Most of us assume people “in-need”, momentarily or long term, know services and resources available to them, but that isn't always the case. Simply making a resource suggestion can possibly make all the difference.

About six months ago, I had a business call me because a youth would not leave their store. It was apparent he was high and under the influence of a narcotic. I went to talk to him. It took about 15 minutes to get him to leave the store but he was so paranoid that he couldn't maintain self-control. It is only our job to get people to leave the property when they are in this condition, but this individual was a minor and seemed he was way beyond being just high; he was scared! I took him aside, called his mom and the police, then sat with him for 30 minutes until the police showed up. As I talked with him he let me know he wasn't high per se; he had been up so many days under the influence of being high that he couldn't function and was hallucinating, seeing people, and he was in fear for his life. He let me know he had been using hardcore drugs since he was 12 and he was now 15. His mom was hysterical and worried but you could tell they had been here before in this situation. She confirmed that he had received death threats and she too was scared. She was thankful for the extra service and concern. It ended when she came and retrieved her son from the police because in this area there are worse things than a youth, under the influence, who is paranoid.

As I looked back, I thought about all the other businesses and staff in our communities that experience encounters like these every day. They haven't had the privilege of working with these people for 20 years or have had the training to handle these situations. How must they respond? What can they do? The Community Activity Network Project will become a resource that can provide concerned citizens with the opportunity to locate services, to make suggestions, or reach out for additional assistance. It will also provide opportunities to locate trainings that may be available.

There are community 411 and information stations that vary by city, county and state, but there isn't one that allows you to see all of what is available in and around your local area including emergency and in-need services as well as providing positive opportunities, events, and activities. The CAN Project wants to provide the ability to locate solutions that meet the specific need of the local community, not a “one-size-fits-all” suggestion. By providing a larger service area resource, we are providing more options.

The more people know of the positive options available in the community, the more suggestions available, the more knowledge people gain, then the more positive effect we can have on those that are currently in-need in our communities. This in turn can make a difference for businesses and staff, the community, as well as citizens and tourists who employ those businesses. A community is a sum of all its parts including those that may be momentarily in-need.

When I was adopted, I was raised on a farm in the country and every morning throughout elementary and middle school I had to walk to the bus. I was a high energy kid so when I got on the bus I was excited to get away from home to embark on the adventures of the day, learning new things and meeting new people. Throughout those times, I was always met with the same pair of eyes and a smile when I stepped onto that bus. Diane Northern was my bus driver and she had a smile that somehow adjusted my energy levels. She knew how to warn me of a mistake I was about to make on the bus before I recognized it myself; she knew how to cheer me up when I didn’t possess the self-awareness to know I was depressed and to make me smile when things were not going well. She seemed to have a sixth-sense about me and was always there for me. And when I didn’t catch a hint from the warnings….she was prompt to respond and I quickly learned that Mrs. Northern doesn’t play!

When I ran away from home at the age of 15 and became homeless, I didn't see her again until I graduated from high school. After the graduation ceremony, I saw this smile that looked so familiar it made me warm up and smile along with it. She approached, gave me a big bear hug, and started weeping. Then she pulled back, stared at me and said “I was so happy you left home and are now graduating.”

How did she know my guilt, my continual questioning of my decision to run away? How did she know I needed to be reassured that I had made the right decision? I realized at that moment the sixth sense she had and that she genuinely cared. She saw me every day during the week; she saw my pain, my sadness, and my attempts to cover it up. She had a responsibility as a public school system bus driver and was limited to what she could do for me, but she did that the best she could. She cared. I am now 40 years old and my elementary and middle school morning bus driver still leaves an impression on me that is instilled in my soul and one of the reasons I want to create a resource that others can use to refer to when in need of services and assistance.

When I started working with at-risk youth and homeless families, I learned the importance public transportation has on a community. Drivers interact with the homeless, people in need, and victims more than most programs that are designed to do so. Drivers care. Many that I have met and worked with have stated that having a resource to refer a youth or person in need to locate local resources and services in, as well as around, the community would be an asset. It is my objective to team with public transportation systems, school districts and their employees to not only gain support for the CAN Project, but to provide a hand in developing our resource to meet local needs they see first-hand.

Many people have seen the YouTube video of the bus driver pulling over to talk down an individual looking to commit suicide. Some people think this is the only time a transit driver has made a difference. I believe that transit drivers make a difference in the lives of our community members on a daily basis. It may be assisting someone from making a bad decision, a smile that says, “I see you,” or perhaps it is as the authority figure holding a person accountable for his or her actions; showing them they can do better. Our goal is to create the CAN Project with a core support system of individuals and networks that interact with or have an effect on each community as a whole. My belief is that by working with the people that assist in transporting members of our community on a daily basis, we can enhance our resource and develop a solid foundation on which to grow.