Once a homeless teen, Haylie Johnson is now working to raise awareness about Montezuma County Partners' Runaway Homeless Youth Program in Cortez.
At 20 years old, she has seen enough tough times to last a lifetime.
“I myself have been there many times. I thought the whole world was against me,” she said.
Drugs were derailing her life when she realized things had to change.
“I was high as a kite, but, well, after a while, I finally woke up and decided that this is not my life. And I wanted to do good,” she said.
Claudia Beetem, Johnson's mom, translated her story through sign language while she explained what it was like to be a young, deaf adult far from any kind of family, food or shelter.
While living on the streets, Johnson explained, the people she asked for food and money made her feel selfish. So after a long period of struggles, Johnson decided to call her mom for help.
“My mom is my hero. She saved my life. I told her I wanted to kill myself one hour before I found my best friend dead,” she said.
But Johnson's story has a happier ending. She is now a local role model in the community.
“She's helped me out a number of times with fundraising booths at the Cortez Cultural Center and the arts festival in the park,” Montezuma County Partners' Crescent Rossiter said of Johnson.
Besides volunteering and working with Montezuma County Partners to serve as a good role model and expose children to positive experiences, Johnson also works for a suicide prevention program and helps stray pets. She had also interviewed for a job Thursday with the Children's Kiva Montessori program in Cortez.
“Hopefully, cross my fingers,” she said of getting the position with the school.
Either way, Johnson is now a self-reliant citizen who has made a conscious decision to remain a positive role model in the community thanks to the kind of help that families, volunteers and nonprofits like Montezuma County Partners provide.
“I finally got my own home, my own responsibility, my own drama to deal with,” she said.
Montezuma County Partners and other volunteers hosted a silent art auction Thursday, Nov 10, to help raise money for its Runaway Homeless Youth Program.
The Partners hosted the evening at First National Bank in Cortez and gathered the paintings, drawings and poetry from local school children who had been asked to reflect the cause of runaway homeless youth in the art.
Brian Kelley, Montezuma County Partner's Community Evaluation and Runaway Homeless Youth program's director, gathered the collection for bidding and co-hosted the fundraiser. He has been helping at-risk children in a variety of ways for more than 15 years.
One of Kelley's main goals for the evening was to raise awareness for the Partners' runaway and homeless program among locals.
“We welcome the opportunity for locals to get involved with leadership and mentoring for at-risk youth,” he said.
The Partners, alongside Beetem and Johnson, were offering guests food, drink and favors like pins, bracelets and brochures to help the cause. “We're hoping to create an environment where children feel safe to come to us. We have a lot of resources available to children and young adults,” Beetem said.