My name is Kayleanna Escalante and I have been very familiar with Remann Hall (Pierce County Juvenile Court) and being locked up. I have a lot of experience with the police and none of it was good. I had been arrested three times for stealing, before I was eleven years old. When I turned twelve I actually got locked for the first time for assault 4 and Malicious Mischief. My criminal history folder is thick; thicker than any of my friends. When I would get locked up, I didn’t care – it had just become a thing to do for me. By the time I was sixteen, I had been locked up more than thirty times in Remann Hall. Finally when I was sixteen, I got sent up to Naselle Youth Camp to serve an eight month sentence for Assault, Theft and Fraud. At the time, I had been using drugs, involved and affiliated with gangs, regular thefts and assaulting others including police officers. I didn’t listen to anyone, including friends and especially adults. I only did whatever I wanted to and no one could tell me different.

            When I first met some volunteers from Youth for Christ, I did not like them. I would not listen, I was disruptive and they banned me from their chapel services because I would try to turn others against them. I would get out of jail and not really care and then I would get locked up again. Every time, I would see the YFC people there and they were always nice to me. Finally one of them, Charlotte would leave the classroom and come into our POD and talk to us. She seemed willing to do that and to listen to us even though she didn’t have to. She was real and it seemed like she really wanted to know us. Soon after that, I met another person names Chrisy and she smiled and played guitar and when she sang, I really felt a release inside. I love music and it hit me and my walls that I had put up began to come down. After that I began to attend chapel and learn a lot each time. I usually brought all the other girls from my POD to chapel.

             The volunteers from YFC were so nice and they listened to me and then would give me advice. I listened because I knew they cared and respected me. Other adults had come and gone in my life and had tried to tell me what to do, but I never listened because they did not understand me, this was different. I used to try to ask the YFC volunteers tricky questions to see if they would be real or not and their answers were always “on point.” After getting to know them, I began to hang out with the YFC people once I got out of Remann Hall. At first I mainly went because they had free food. But after awhile, I asked one of them, Chrisy to be my mentor – I told her that she was the one I wanted and no one else. I had had so many counselors and probation people speak to me, but I never felt connected to them in a real way. I had trouble having a mentor who was involved in my discipline (court people, etc) because I never could be real around them. I couldn’t trust them. I was looking for a friend and someone I could look up to. Chrisy looked so happy and inside I was sad and hurting. I felt like giving up many times, but on the outside I would try to seem happy. Chrisy started to meet with me and talk about my life and where I was headed.

            Once I had finished my eight months at Naselle, I began to spend a lot of time with Chrisy. She helped me get a job and would try to help me focus on my future and the hope that was ahead. Soon after, I got a chance to go to summer camp with the SOZO and YFC people. Not long after we got back, I got locked up again. Instead of getting sent back up again, I got a second chance.

            After that last time, things have really been changing for me. I am not always keeping everything inside and pushing everyone away. I have a mentor and friend I can call anytime who will give me direction. I have so many resources through my mentor: jobs, school, someone to listen to me. I have found out who I am and what is ahead in my future. I now have hope to deal with problems, when they come up. I am so encouraged by so many people that have come around me through Youth for Christ. I feel like I have a big family. They help me identify obstacles that have come against me in my past so that I can look forward to my future with hope.

            Recently, I have been helping others. It makes me feel good to help other people and now I have a chance to do that more. I am no longer quiet. When I walk down the street and see others, I say “hi” to people and try to make them smile. I am no longer just in my own little selfish world anymore. I have been trying to help other girls out of prostitution and gangs. I listen to them and encourage them, the way I was encouraged. I am trying to help my sister and family as well. I have a list of twelve people that I focus on to encourage them and point them in the right direction. A lot of them are younger girls who are in the same place I used to be, except some of them are worse because of how bad the streets are now.

            Now I see why there is a reason for authority. It has been good for me to listen to where other people are coming from. I listen and listen to get the full picture and understand more clearly where people are coming from. Before, I was always, “you’re wrong and I am right!” I used to have anger out of control. I now know it is not worth it to take my anger out on other people, so now I see how decisions put my future on hold and keep me from growing and developing the way I should. I now deal with my anger the way my mentor has taught me, and with God’s help, I get through without exploding.

            It makes me feel great to know I have someone who is there to listen to me and care for me. I have a purpose for my life now that I didn’t see prior to having someone to walk with me. I love helping others get out of there old lives, just the way I have. I care about others and I really want to see them make it out of lives of crime, drugs, prostitution and hopelessness. I understand what they have been through and I want them to know they can overcome the old ways in new positive ways. Thank you for listening to me.

Sincerely,

Kayleanna Escalante

JJM Mentee of Youth for Christ/Tacoma