Podcast Transcript: Finding Well-Being After the Streets
Maggie, Garney and Zach all used to be homeless, but they've now all found their own unique ways to stay healthy and happy. In this roundtable discussion, they define and explain well-being, one of the Family and Youth Services Bureau's four outcomes for runaway and homeless youth.
Time: 5:09 | Size: 4.8 MB
NCFY: Welcome to Youth Speak Out, a podcast series from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. FYSB believes homeless young people need to be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy in order to successfully transition off the streets. We spoke to three formerly homeless youth, Maggie Oesting, Zach Geyschick and Elizabeth Garnica, who goes by Garney, about how they achieved this sense of well‑being and what youth workers can do to help others like them. Garney spoke first.
GARNEY: Well-being to me would be love, having someone there with you at all times. Not even just love, intimacy. It can be love from a friend, love from your grandma or your mom because it helps you get through in life. And I believe [if] you have a type of love person, it will get you through.
MAGGIE: My well‑being is having creative outlets, spiritual outlets, and taking care of my body with yoga, acupuncture, eating well, going to a clinic when I’m sick. But maintaining, just being happy.
ZACH: When I wake up, I put a samo on the ground, tobacco. And I start off the day with a prayer. Then I also like jamming in my garage. When I start off the day, I sing. I’m a proud singer of the Ojibwe culture. I don't know, just back to family. Keep them safe and then I’m safe.
NCFY: Garney and Maggie talked about the obstacles they face when striving for personal well‑being.
GARNEY: Pushing away people because I’ve been hurt so many times. Like, you know, for instance, like if me and my girlfriend get in a fight, I will automatically push her away. I’ll push anybody away. I’ll push them to the limit to see how far they’ll go and see if like they really are here for me. And that is my biggest motivation. But yet, it’s my biggest fear. Because just a couple if they were out of my life, I would just go back to what I used to be.
MAGGIE: My obstacle is choosing something. Because I often feel if I pick, you know, a career path or to go to school, then I’m very much stuck in that. And I never want to feel stuck somewhere. And I want to be in charge of my own life. And I want to be my own boss. But I think there’s a give and take with that. And you have to look realistically at what you’re doing right now. And sometimes I know in the long run, I do want to be my own boss and I don’t want to work for someone else. But right now, you know, I want to go to circus classes. So I need to work to support myself to do that. So I think it's my obstacle is looking at what I want and then negotiating with myself of how I’m going to get that.
NCFY: Zach led the discussion about what youth workers can do to help homeless youth define and achieve their own well‑being.
ZACH: Ask them what they want to do in the next couple of years. If the life they’re living is the one they want to live, keep living that. For me, when I was homeless, I didn’t want to be homeless. I did a lot of changes and I got in a program. And I got promoted to youth consultant. So that definitely helped me out. Now I have two jobs. [Laughs]
GARNEY: I also have a friend who I talk to about everything and a case manager who I don’t see as a case manager. I see as an older sister. I told her everything. And with me like there’s my sexuality. Like for a while, like I had a problem just talking it through. And Jenna told me a couple of her stories and stuff like that. And like when she told me ... like when I knew that she was okay and I had no problems saying, “Hey, I’m gay,” like that’s when I knew I could trust her. That’s when I knew that I can tell her everything.
MAGGIE: The way that homeless people interact with each other is very raw and to the point. And I think that’s what a lot of youth appreciate with case management or staff members or recovery transition advocates, is just, you know, being honest and truthful and recognizing that like, you’re probably homeless because you’ve, you know, something for you has kept you back. Society’s like left something out for you. And like for me, I was ... I was a very angry person. And, but I think I was able to channel my anger into something driving that made me want to just transcend that and not just be angry, but have a purpose and a reason, something to aim for.
NCFY: To learn more about well‑being and the other three FYSB outcomes for runaway and homeless youth, safety, self‑sufficiency and permanent connections, visit the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, online at ncfy.acf.hhs.gov.
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