Agencies reach out to help youth develop better lives

At age 21, Heather Burnett was feeling the crush of the world.

After a life of turmoil, she had dropped out of college to deal with her abuse of drugs and alcohol. She completed a rehabilitation program, but when she got out she had no place to live and had to move in with her grandparents in Bellevue. And she was pregnant with a baby she didn't want, about to become a single mother.

"I wasn't ready to have a baby," Burnett, now 24, recalled recently. "I didn't know what to do."

Desperate for help, she contacted Healthy Start, an organization that helps young, first-time mothers. People there suggested she also seek assistance from Youth Eastside Services (YES), which provides counseling and other services to children, teens and young adults throughout the Eastside.

YES is one of 13 agencies supported by The Seattle Times' annual Fund For The Needy drive, now in its 30th year. The fund also supports Kent Youth and Family Services, which provides counseling and an array of social services.

Counselors at YES were "so kind and listened to what I have to say," and didn't judge, Burnett says.

They helped get her through the postpartum depression that followed the birth of her son in July 2006 and helped get her life on a solid footing. Today, she has a good job and refers to her son, Jaden, as her "lovebug."

"He's my world. I love that little boy," says Burnett, who displays a picture of her son on a work identification badge dangling from her neck.

Officials at YES and Kent Youth and Family Services say their organizations provide crucial help to thousands of young people like Burnett, along with the families who participate in their programs.

Mike Heinisch, executive director of the Kent program, likens the work to economic development.

"We're a development organization, too," he says. "We develop people's lives."

In a tough economy, the demand for services from the agencies is going to rise as families and young people deal with stress, according to Heinisch and Mel Baer, Campaign Director for YES.

"We'll see things. We just have to be prepared for it," says Baer, citing loss of health insurance as an example.

Already, YES serves 5,000 young people and additional family members annually, operating with a $3.2 million budget. Users pay with medical insurance, while some pay sliding-scale fees. Others pay nothing.

"We have stood by our commitment. We don't turn away anybody if they can't pay," Baer says.

The agency's services include counseling; drug and alcohol treatment; parenting support; and guidance on teen dating as well as Internet issues.

Among the programs offered by Kent Youth and Family Services: mental-health therapy; chemical-dependency treatment; housing for homeless teenage mothers; work training; and after-school and early-education programs. With its $3 million annual budget, it serves up to 6,000 young people and other family members.

No one is turned away who can't pay.

In addition to in-house services, YES provides counselors to students in the Bellevue and Lake Washington school districts; the Kent program does the same in Kent.

Both agencies began as grass-roots movements with drop-in centers. YES opened in 1968; Kent Youth and Family Services in 1970. Both have grown into major organizations linked closely to their communities.

Heather Burnett, who now lives in Renton, is just one of many who have benefited.

Not only was her 1 ½ years of care at YES free, and not only did the agency help her with her pregnancy and immediate issues, it also helped her come to grips with a difficult upbringing.

One of the key messages conveyed by her counselors and psychiatrist at YES was not to blame herself.

"That was a really big thing," she says.

Her counseling at YES ended when she became too old for the program. But a worker from Healthy Start still visits.

Burnett, a financial screener for the state of Department of Social and Health Services, steers troubled young people she sees at work to YES.

Her goals include going back to college, getting married and having more children. She says she carries with her the coping skills she learned at YES and an understanding of the importance of reaching out for help:

"I still have my times that are bad. But talking about it helps."

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com