A strong spirit: VOA Alaska helps youth find a brighter future

“When I was 13, I ended up falling into the wrong crowd, and I started smoking cigarettes, drinking and then smoking pot,” said Valencia, who is 21 today and credits Volunteers of America (VOA) Alaska for helping her find her way. VOA Alaska’s Transition-Age Youth (TAY) Services is a strength-based and person-centered program that provides outpatient mental health and substance use services, as well as employment and education assistance to help young people become self-sufficient. The program also provides housing assistance. In 2024, Providence Alaska provided a $75,000 community benefit grant, with Providence Alaska Foundation contributing an additional $10,000.   

“It was around age 14 that I tried meth for the first time,” Valencia continues. “It wasn’t really my thing, and by then I was going in and out of foster care because I could not stay at my bio mom’s. I would go back and forth, and when I was 15, I finally left. I wasn’t happy with myself, and I didn’t know where I fit in.”   

Valencia’s story is all too familiar in Alaska. In a state Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted in 2023, 1,200 students were polled, and the results showed a growth in the percentage of teens experiencing depression (43% compared to 25.9% in 2011). Also increasing: the number of teens who have attempted suicide and had suicidal ideation.  This represents many of the youth who come through VOA’s programs.   

“We provide wraparound support,” said Parinita Shetty, VOA’s program director. “We recently rebranded the program, and currently we have case management, peer support, employment support, education support, and we have a behavioral health counselor and clinician, and a medical assistant.”  

Parinita said the program includes three phases of support:  

➡️ Stabilization, crisis management, housing and peer support to build wellness and connection. 

➡️ Clinical services, employment, education, case management and groups-to maintain stability. 

➡️ Graduation planning and transition to self-sufficiency for post-graduation success. 

 Valencia is currently in the second phase. She said she hit rock-bottom when she was 15. Back on meth and running with a “rough” crowd, she stole a car – and got caught. It was the day after Christmas. She would spend the holidays at McLaughlin Youth Center.   

“I was sleep deprived and out of it, and at the time it seemed like a good idea,” Valencia said of the vehicle theft. “Obviously it wasn’t.”   

For Valencia, VOA was ultimately her port in the storm. After McLaughlin, she went into VOA’s Adolescent Residential Center for Help (ARCH) program, an inpatient residential treatment program for youth with substance use disorder.   

“I spent eight months there and wasn’t allowed to go back home and wasn’t allowed to talk to my parents,” Valencia said. “But I also wasn’t exactly ready to be sober.”   

This is how it goes for many who show up at VOA, trying to find help but not sure if they are able to withstand the rigors of getting sober, or getting out of an abusive relationship, or leaving a friend group that is bad news. VOA served 1,124 young adults and their families in 2023 according to its annual Community Impact Report. The most prevalent of the diagnoses among these youth: trauma-induced stress (65%), substance use disorder (56%) and major depression (49%).   

The key, Parinita said, is treating each person as an individual, because every case is unique.   

Valencia’s case-manager-turned-peer-mentor Lacey Smiley understands that all too well. She has lived Valencia’s reality and experienced houselessness, mental health and substance use struggles and a history of incarceration. She said the most important thing for young people to do in this situation is to pick themselves up and try, try again.   

“That’s the reason I love Valencia so much,” said Lacey, who has been working with Valencia since she was 19. “The big thing is that she keeps trying.”  

Valencia acknowledges that staying sober is a challenge. She will do well for months, and then something snaps, and she might relapse. But, she said, she has Lacey’s support no matter what. 

To Parinita, the most critical piece of helping vulnerable youth get back on their feet is finding them a safe place to live. VOA’s program includes a voucher system to get that accomplished, and they currently serve up to 33 young people between the ages of 18 and 24. With that critical need met, they can then move on to employment and education.   

“It’s a really collaborative approach,” she said.   

Lacey said she is hopeful that with VOA’s help, Valencia can break the cycle and create a fulfilling life for herself.    

“Trauma is very hard to pull out of, and we try to let them know that that is okay,” Lacey said. “The best thing we can do is meet them where they’re at.”   

For now, Valencia continues to feel hopeful. She has a stable job and two cats that give her a sense of purpose, and she stays connected to Lacey, who she said is her main support network.  

“It’s a lot easier with Lacey,” Valencia said. “She has empathy, and I don’t feel alone.”  

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