‘My Voice’ makes noise

WASILLA — “Everybody has a story, but not everybody has a voice.” That’s the idea My Voice was founded on, according to Heather Resz, program guide and former editor of the Frontiersman.

Much like Gathering Grounds Cafe and Steamdriven Boutique, My Voice is supported by MY House homeless youth center in Wasilla, but operates as a standalone program run by local youth. Resz said she agreed to act as a guide for the group at the beginning of the summer, after MY House founder Michelle Overstreet sent her an email proposing a “storytelling project” for MY House clients.

“I had been interested in it before, but I didn’t have the time,” Resz said.

Now, she has the time.

After Resz left the paper in August of 2015, she approached Colony Middle School Principal Mary McMahon about her Knight Writers program, which gives students the opportunity to have their true stories published anonymously in a bound book. MY House then hosted a few young authors and clients for an open mic night, which showed Resz and the other adults in the room just how powerful and valuable a story can be.

Take 19-year-old Abby Lampley. Soon to graduate from Burchell High School, Lampley might not have had a shot at high school if not for a potentially life-saving surgery in 2001 and the determination to adapt to a new reality.

At 3 years old, Lampley began having near-constant seizures, which developed into a kind of encephalitis that could have killed her at such an early age. The “only cure for my disorder,” she was told, was to remove half her brain, and keep the virus that was eating away at it from spreading.

The surgery was performed when Lampley was four years old, and was considered a success. But it took a long time for Lampley to see herself that way.

Post-surgery, Lampley said she had to learn to do everything with one hand, as one side of her body didn’t not have the same physical capabilities as the other. Even now she wears thick glasses and can only really see out of one eye.

Lampley said she had “cognitive issues” as a child, and had difficulty keeping up with her peers. As a young teenager, her parents pulled her out of school, she said, thinking there was no point for her to continue.

At home, Lampley said she experienced “mental abuse,” to the point where she decided to leave at age 17. She stayed with another family for a while, and was still in communication with her mother and grandmother, but things still weren’t working out, she said, until she found MY House.

A case manager put her in transitional housing and gave her a job at the boutique — something totally new to Lampley.

“I had never worked before, because no one would hire me,” Lampley said.

Two years ago, she entered high school with no credits. As of Sept. 9, 2016, she was 4.5 credits away from graduation.

“It’s really cool,” she said.

Lampley is now an editor for The People’s Paper, and loves public speaking. She said My Voice has provided her with a much-appreciated “outlet for making connections and friends.”

“I’m really big into sharing stories with people, and the opportunity to share mine was really rewarding,” Lampley said, of her first My Voice experience at Wonderland Park this summer.

Michael Cebrian, another 19-year-old My Voice participant, who has spent most of his life in the Valley, most enjoys the talent aspect of the organization. At monthly events, he will often challenge others to a game of chess, something he enjoys teaching as much as playing.

Making art and music is also a hobby he would like to develop more.

“I’d like to learn to play the cello,” he said.

A fiddle player herself, Resz said she encourages My Voice participants to cultivate whatever talents they may have, but art seems to resonate with most youth that come through.

“Some kids aren’t broken, they just need art,” she said.

One young woman even told her, “I don’t need anxiety meds or anti-depressants, I need art supplies.”

Resz was prepared to help, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to buy a quality paint set for every individual as My Voice expands. The program is not funded by MY House or any other organization, and grant writing is tricky when My Voice is such an unstructured effort right now. But Resz has a solution for that, too.

“Don’t write a grant, start a business,” is her advice to young people in need.

One thing a few My Voice regulars have done is to offer photo services to high school seniors who can’t afford a professional. Since the photographers charge by donation only, the endeavor doesn’t bring in a lot of money, but it does give them skills and potential job training to put on their resumes.

The main goal of My Voice, though, is for each person to “find something to cheer about,” Resz said. One young man, for example, came to a weekly planning meeting ranting about a classmate who had irritated him so much, he wanted to hit him. But he didn’t.

“Oh, so you wanted to beat up another kid but you didn’t so you’re not in jail? Yay! You just made a good decision,” was Resz’s response, in essence, she said.

Resz said she doesn’t know what the future holds for My Voice, but that for now, it supplies “a framework that allows us to connect young and old people and artists.”

Learn more about My Voice on Facebook @MyHouseMyVoice or send an email to myhousemyvoice@gmail.com for information about upcoming meetings and events.