For most of her teen years, Courtney Cloud was homeless: living on the streets, "couch-surfing" with friends, in foster care or in some kind of transitional living situation.
"Sometimes I'd hide out at night in 24-hour stores. It was terrifying at times," Cloud said.
A family and a career seemed out of the question for someone focused simply on getting through the day. Now, however, she's a 20-year-old single mom and a Whatcom Community College student with dreams of becoming a nurse.
Despite the rigors of school and the demands of caring for a 19-month-old daughter with developmental disabilities, Cloud still finds time to volunteer for Northwest Youth Services, the local nonprofit that helped her turn her life around and supported her through the most difficult of times.
"One of the things that stand out about her is her bravery and willingness to tell her story," said Riannon Bardsley, executive director of Northwest Youth Services, which works with "at-risk" teens - runaway and homeless youth and those who've been neglected or abused.
A speech that Cloud gave about how Northwest Youth Services helped her with housing and to finish high school drew thunderous applause at a fundraising auction in October 2010.
"It wasn't easy. I told the good and the bad and the ugly of it," Cloud said. "But they did a lot more for me than I did for them. I learned that it was OK to show your emotions - that's a hard one. It's hard to be vulnerable."
Cloud said that writing the speech forced her to examine the "big picture" of her life.
"(The speech) was kind of like a public thank-you. There was like two standing ovations and tears everywhere," she said with a look of disbelief, even more than a year later.
Bardsley praised Cloud for helping to personalize the plight of abused and neglected youth, saying she is an inspiration and role model.
"Because so much has been taken from them, they can't even consider giving back. She's already getting it," Bardsley said. "After the (speech), we actually had people come out asking to volunteer for us. That was really cool," Bardsley said. "We had a rush of new volunteers."
Cloud also writes personal notes to donors and allows her poetry and pictures of her and daughter Kennedie to be used in promotional and fundraising literature.
"We used those (poems) in thank-you cards to help people get a better connection to our mission," Bardsley said. "Those in itself leverage more volunteers."
"It's nice to see somebody so full circle. She's still dealing with a lot - yet she still finds it in herself to give back. We can't tell our story as well as she can."
Hannah Fisk, the group's housing programs manager, recalled that Cloud organized a Christmas Angel Tree for the Salvation Army as part of her culminating project for the GRADS program at Squalicum High School.
"It was amazing, because she could have qualified as one of the recipients," Fisk said. "She could teach so many of us."
10 WHO CARED
For the last 10 days of 2011, The Bellingham Herald salutes Whatcom County people who help make our community a great place to live.
Dec. 22: Chuck and Dee Robinson.
Dec. 23: Louise Sager.
Dec. 24: Ron Buchinski.
Dec. 25: Melissa Brulotte.
Dec. 26: Rick Tremaine.
Dec. 27: Courtney Cloud.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Northwest Youth Services works with "at-risk" teens - runaway and homeless youth and those who've been neglected or abused. Donations and volunteers are welcome. Call 360-734-9862, or go online to nwys.org.
