Is There Any Hope in the Hood?

Colleen Adams made an impact in the world of fashion, but it was not the legacy she wanted to leave.  After years as a fashion executive, she left the industry to make a difference in the life of urban teens.  Sacrificing her financial security Colleen carved an innovative path of hope by establishing Empowered Youth USA.  

In the depths of inner-city America, poverty and crime shape the lives of underprivileged youth. The children’s role models are drug addicts and criminals. Attending funerals of their friends seems as commonplace as hanging out at the mall and taking out the trash which might result in being shot to death. Electricity and functional plumbing aren’t guaranteed.

By stark contrast, Colleen Adams hailed from the racially segregated south in the 1940’s and climbed her way to the elite end of the social scale. But after accomplishing hollow success as a fashion and publishing marketing executive, Colleen heeded her life’s calling to tackle the hopelessness and despair of disenfranchised inner-city young men.

But could ONE person provide the means for youth from the most crime-ridden and poverty-stricken neighborhoods to actually achieve the American Dream?

Colleen's interview will inspire you and hopefully, challenge you to help bring Hope in the Hood.  She has the unique ability to see the real person inside kids whom society has tossed aside. 

When You Just Want the Pain to End

Lorraine Reguly, B.A./B.Ed., is an author and English teacher-turned-freelancer for hire. She offers 4 different services on Wording Well to help you with writing/blogging, and editing. Lorraine has helped many become published authors and she can help you, too!


In her interview, Lorraine shared her story of how she overcame suicidal thoughts that plagued her for years.  "Deciding what to do when you are suicidal is tough. You don’t know what to do. You don’t know who to turn to. YOU JUST WANT YOUR PAIN TO END."

Lorraine was raped when she was a 14-year-old virgin and tried killing herself when she was 15 years old.  She felt hopeless many times throughout her life.  She was a single mom who got involved with prostitution.  After going to school and becoming a high school teacher she quit teaching to return to prostitution. Her son ended up disowning her and in her pain, she smoked crack cocaine for 10 months. That was when she hit rock bottom.  There was nowhere to go but....up.

After she nearly died from a burst appendix, it was a major turning point for her. She realized she did NOT want to die!  She wanted to LIVE!

How Would You React if Your Son said "Mom, I'm a Girl"

Judy Glenney is an author, speaker and a mover and shaker.  She wanted to compete in weight lifting but quickly realized there were no categories for women to compete.  Through a long process she started the competition sport for women nationally, then internationally, then into the Olympics.

She has won several championships, both nationally and internationally.  




As a late in life mom, she had only one son whose life was cut short by suicide at the age of nineteen.

Judy's story of her son's life will grab you from the beginning of her interview as it is about the very timely and sensitive issue of transgenderism.  

She openly revealed her emotions and frustrations both before and after her son's death.  She shares how she reacted to her son's wishes to become a girl to the guilt she encountered when he died.  

Judy shares how the public school agenda is too quick to embrace the transition for young children 

How to Take Charge of Your Health and Vitality

Kelsey Matheson is a serial entrepreneur and success coach for women. She transforms her clients at a cellular level and supports them in getting out of their own way!  

Kelsey is the Founder and Co-Owner of Anamaya Resort, a yoga retreat center in Costa Rica, and BE Outfitter, a backpack and outdoor gear company that helps put children around the world through school. These businesses, along with helping women live the lives they were born to live, have become her passion in life.

While many new and exciting ventures were happening, Kelsey had her daughter and subsequently suffered from severe depression.  Much discovery led to the recovery and the realization that Kelsey could help others. The call to coach was heard and kelseymatheson.com now serves as a hub for those seeking to benefit from either her business prowess, through private 1:1 training sessions, or achieve optimal health through her brand new e-course The Optimal Health & Conscious Living Academy.  

There is Always Hope -- You are Worthy and Valuable

Charlana Kelly is an author of numerous articles and three books, “You are Not Here by Accident,”  “Reaching Out with a Message of Hope” and “In Search of the King's Court.”  Charlana's accomplishments are numerous; entrepreneur, pastor, community ministry leader, Podcast Host and CEO of SpeakTruth Media Group LLC. 

At the age of six, Charlana found out that she was adopted which sent her into a downward spiral into her teens and beyond.  During her interview, she delves into this subject and how it can affect kids.  

Charlana learned many truths on her journey such as:

What we expect to come to pass.....will

There is always hope -- you are worthy and valuable

Hopelessness is losing your expectation of good

Seeing Something in it's Mess, You can See the Potential

Lori Gano is a speaker, teacher, and author.  Lori has a passion for broken women and she goes into the trenches to help restore these women in rebuilding their shattered lives.

Lori's career as a licensed general contractor and owner of a residential design and build construction company is what inspired her to help restore broken lives.

Lori was born into a difficult family life whose parents were alcohol dependent and severely mentally ill.  She struggled through abuse, neglect, panic disorder, PTSD, and anorexia. But she was determined to make something of her life which led her to help others less fortunate.

Marrying at 23, she was still suffering through panic disorder and anorexia.  She lost her mother-in-law to leukemia, became pregnant with twins but one was lost.  She lost her ability to work due to the high-risk pregnancy and they lost their home, cars and all their belongings.  They had to file bankruptcy and begin the process of starting over.  

How to Live Fully the Life You Did Not Plan - No Matter What

 

Rebecca Faye Smith Galli is an author and columnist who writes about love, loss, and healing. Surviving significant losses—her seventeen-year-old brother’s death; her son’s degenerative disease and subsequent death; her daughter’s autism; her divorce; and nine days later, her paralysis from transverse myelitis, a rare spinal cord inflammation that began as the flu—has fostered an unexpected but prolific writing career. 







The Baltimore Sun published her first column about playing soccer with her son—from the wheelchair. 400 published columns later, she launched Thoughtful Thursdays—Lessons from a Resilient Heart, a weekly column that shares what’s inspired her to stay positive.

Becky Galli was born into a family that valued the power of having a plan. With a pastor father and a stay-at-home mother, her 1960s southern upbringing was bucolic--even enviable. But when her brothe­r, only seventeen, died in a waterskiing accident, the slow unraveling of her perfect family began.

Though grief overwhelmed the family, twenty-year-old Galli forged onward with her life plans–marriag­e, career, and raising a family of her own–one she hoped would be as idyllic as the fam­ily she once knew.

Never Give Up On Your Dreams

Simone Pond is an award-winning USA Today bestselling author of dystopian fiction and urban fantasy. As a young girl, she loved writing in her journal and making up stories, though it took several years before she published her first novel. Since then she hasn’t looked back. Pond currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their Boston Terrier. 

As a young girl, Simone felt overwhelmed with hopelessness, starting from the age of twelve when she realized her father was a drug addict and was selling drugs from our house. Her severely depressed mother locked herself in her room for about a year, while Simone muddled her way through puberty. She wanted to disappear. The shame was too heavy. She lived in the constant fear of her family being arrested.  She watched her father fading away before her eyes and at one point wished him dead.  

In rebellion she became an alcoholic who was severely depressed and manic. Simone went through two divorces which left her suicidal. This devastating event was the pivot point in her life when she made the decision to take control, get help and she turned her entire life around.  Now, she has a passion to help other young women who may be going through similar circumstances.