Reclaiming Futures: A celebration of second chances

At 20, Jordyn Brougher is studying at Shoreline Community College for nursing assistant credentials. She has a part-time job. She has bigger dreams, too, of working in music production.

“Pretty much I’m making steps for myself,” she said.

The Lynnwood woman’s sights are set on a successful, fulfilling future. Five years ago, the picture was bleak.

“When I was 15, I was in a lot of trouble. I was hanging out with the wrong people,” Brougher told a supportive audience Wednesday.

She ended up in Snohomish County Juvenile Offender Drug Court. That was the beginning of a turn-about that led her to Reclaiming Futures. Part of a national effort, Reclaiming Futures brings together the juvenile justice system, substance abuse treatment and community mentors to help young people — those struggling as Brougher once did.

She and others told of escaping the snares of drug use at a Reclaiming Futures Celebration held Wednesday afternoon in the Everett Music Hall at Everett Mall.

Young drummers, keyboard players and other musicians from the program’s Music Futures group provided entertainment. And Henri Wilson, who coordinates the project’s Promising Artists in Recovery (PAIR) program, narrated a showcase of art and photography created by young people.

The celebration was attended by Snohomish County Superior Court judges, including Bruce Weiss. Deeply involved in Reclaiming Futures since its launch here in 2011, Weiss is ending a four-year stint as the project’s lead judicial fellow. Judge Marybeth Dingledy will take over that role.

“We want to celebrate our kids,” said Weiss, who spoke about the project’s history. He likened drug court to baking a cake, a step-by-step process akin to a recipe. “With Reclaiming Futures, they gave us the cake,” he said. It was left to organizers and mentors to figure out a recipe that worked to reduce recidivism among young people.

Weiss said Reclaiming Futures has been successful in removing barriers that separated drug court, probation, treatment and school. “Now we work together,” he said.

No one was celebrating one recent Reclaiming Futures development — the loss of federal grant money.

Janelle Sgrignoli is project director for Reclaiming Futures and also works in Superior Court overseeing the county’s drug treatment courts. She said a paid project director for Reclaiming Futures left in August, and that program is now without four-year grant money from two federal sources that totaled more than $300,000.

About 60 young people now take part in Reclaiming Futures, and Sgrignoli said organizers must plan to move forward financially.

Dingledy acknowledged that challenge. “The grant has expired. I have big shoes to fill,” the judge told the gathering. Asking how she would sustain Reclaiming Futures, Dingledy answered her own question. “I’m not — you are,” she said.

Those in attendance were asked to fill out cards showing whether they were willing to volunteer, be team members, donate money or provide spaces for activities.

Mia Flores, 18, said mentors have been key to her progress. With Reclaiming Futures, Flores took classes in photography, drawing and calligraphy. Herald photographers Mark and Annie Mulligan serve as photo mentors with the program, and the newspaper has published participants’ pictures.

“The most important thing I got was my relationship with my mentor. Mentors tell us our self-worth,” Flores said.

The Everett teen described earlier years when she spiraled down, using meth and being homeless. “I’m still going through the process and finding out who I am,” said Flores, now a young mother. “We all believe we can do it by ourselves, but really we can’t.”

Brougher, who learned to play piano through Reclaiming Futures, said a program doesn’t fix everything.

“Everybody deserves a chance, if you want the chance,” she said. “They don’t do your life for you, but it’s nice to have people you can rely on.”

Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.