Our Second Stories

The Second Stories podcast is dedicated to telling stories of people who had first stories full of hardship and hopelessness, yet were able to change the narrative and write their own second story. Their stories of resilience and hope, but also tributes to the people and experiences and organizations that made it possible for them to start again.

It seemed like every time “Nyomi” and her mom talked it turned into an argument. At first they just disagreed about little things throughout the day, but as Nyomi got older the arguments grew more and more intense. Nyomi’s mom heard about Second Story for Teens in Crisis and reached out in an effort to improve her relationship with her daughter.

When “Moesha” found out she was pregnant, her mom kicked her out of the house and Moesha became homeless. Now a part Second Story, Moesha is attending life skills and parenting classes while continuing at her job. Moesha was handed a story written with bitterness and tinged with hardship, but she’s determined to write her own second story, one marked by hope, confidence, and dignity.

“Delilah” had been staying with an older man for almost a week when her anxious parents finally located her. She came to the teen shelter, and admitted to the counselors that she wasn’t always searching for respect in her relationships, but running away from loneliness instead.

Izzy shivered in the dark, cradling her growing belly. She was pregnant. She imagined caring for her baby in her tent without heat, without four sturdy walls, totally exposed to the wind and cold. She knew she couldn’t stay there much longer. So Izzy reached out to Second Story for Young Mothers.

“Eliza” felt like she had plunged into a nightmare. In a moment, she lost everything she held close: her parents were killed, requiring her to leave everything she knew at home and move to the United States to live with extended family. In the midst of her tension, Eliza came to Second Story’s teen shelter.

“Maria”, an upcoming 5th grader, always asked for help with language arts. But Maria wasn’t simply frustrated by the assignment--she was even having trouble reading the instructions. Then she met a Safe Youth Project volunteer named Lisa.

"Debbi" was kicked out of her home by her father. She'd been receiving demeaning comments and emotional abuse from her father for a long time. With us she found a safe place to stay, warm meals, and support.

The lice went away. But the stigma did not. Bella became embarrassed that she had experienced a lice episode, and began avoiding the Safe Youth Project.

"My father, he didn’t know I existed. Not until I was three, when my mother passed away. He was notified, and got joint custody with my adopted mom."

Claire was apprehensive about sharing personal details. She was afraid that our counselors would return her to live with her father.

In a life-shattering event, Tommy’s mother left him, and he and his father were alone. Tommy felt abandoned. He lost the ability to trust others.

When she first arrived, her mother told our staff that 12-year-old Kayla was having difficulty making friends and adjusting to the US school system.

Ricky could have become a runaway, and stepped onto the path to homelessness, or succumbed to the promises of gangs who prey upon high school students living marginal lives.

From the time Tim was just a baby until he became too old and "aged out" of the system, he moved in and out of foster care homes and residential placements.