At 20, Jordyn Brougher is studying at Shoreline Community College for nursing assistant credentials. She has a part-time job. She has bigger dreams, too, of working in music production.
“Pretty much I’m making steps for myself,” she said.
The Lynnwood woman’s sights are set on a successful, fulfilling future. Five years ago, the picture was bleak.
“When I was 15, I was in a lot of trouble. I was hanging out with the wrong people,” Brougher told a supportive audience Wednesday.
She ended up in Snohomish County Juvenile Offender Drug Court. That was the beginning of a turn-about that led her to Reclaiming Futures. Part of a national effort, Reclaiming Futures brings together the juvenile justice system, substance abuse treatment and community mentors to help young people — those struggling as Brougher once did.
She and others told of escaping the snares of drug use at a Reclaiming Futures Celebration held Wednesday afternoon in the Everett Music Hall at Everett Mall.
Young drummers, keyboard players and other musicians from the program’s Music Futures group provided entertainment. And Henri Wilson, who coordinates the project’s Promising Artists in Recovery (PAIR) program, narrated a showcase of art and photography created by young people.
The celebration was attended by Snohomish County Superior Court judges, including Bruce Weiss. Deeply involved in Reclaiming Futures since its launch here in 2011, Weiss is ending a four-year stint as the project’s lead judicial fellow. Judge Marybeth Dingledy will take over that role.
“We want to celebrate our kids,” said Weiss, who spoke about the project’s history. He likened drug court to baking a cake, a step-by-step process akin to a recipe. “With Reclaiming Futures, they gave us the cake,” he said. It was left to organizers and mentors to figure out a recipe that worked to reduce recidivism among young people.
Weiss said Reclaiming Futures has been successful in removing barriers that separated drug court, probation, treatment and school. “Now we work together,” he said.
No one was celebrating one recent Reclaiming Futures development — the loss of federal grant money.
Janelle Sgrignoli is project director for Reclaiming Futures and also works in Superior Court overseeing the county’s drug treatment courts. She said a paid project director for Reclaiming Futures left in August, and that program is now without four-year grant money from two federal sources that totaled more than $300,000.
About 60 young people now take part in Reclaiming Futures, and Sgrignoli said organizers must plan to move forward financially.
Dingledy acknowledged that challenge. “The grant has expired. I have big shoes to fill,” the judge told the gathering. Asking how she would sustain Reclaiming Futures, Dingledy answered her own question. “I’m not — you are,” she said.
Those in attendance were asked to fill out cards showing whether they were willing to volunteer, be team members, donate money or provide spaces for activities.
Mia Flores, 18, said mentors have been key to her progress. With Reclaiming Futures, Flores took classes in photography, drawing and calligraphy. Herald photographers Mark and Annie Mulligan serve as photo mentors with the program, and the newspaper has published participants’ pictures.
“The most important thing I got was my relationship with my mentor. Mentors tell us our self-worth,” Flores said.
The Everett teen described earlier years when she spiraled down, using meth and being homeless. “I’m still going through the process and finding out who I am,” said Flores, now a young mother. “We all believe we can do it by ourselves, but really we can’t.”
Brougher, who learned to play piano through Reclaiming Futures, said a program doesn’t fix everything.
“Everybody deserves a chance, if you want the chance,” she said. “They don’t do your life for you, but it’s nice to have people you can rely on.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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