Teen's turnaround takes her before Congress

[Times photo: Jamie Francis] "Without the Transitional Living Program . . . I would be a statistic, not a congressional witness,'' says Amanda "Nikki'' Hauter. The 16-year-old has lived in the program's St. Petersburg center since December.

By BILL DURYEA
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 30, 2002

With the help of the Transitional Living Program, a 16-year-old runaway has transformed her life and outlook. Today she takes the story of her success and a message about funding to Washington.

ST. PETERSBURG -- Five months ago, if you'd gone looking for Amanda "Nikki" Hauter about 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, the last place you would have started looking would have been school.

"Two o'clock would be when I would be racing back to school to get my ride home so my dad wouldn't know I'd skipped," Nikki said recently.

If you want to find Nikki about 2 p.m. today you still wouldn't find her in school.

Try C-SPAN.

She'll be the young lady in the gray business suit at the microphone speaking the words, "I am concerned about the president's proposed reductions to the youth employment and youth opportunity grants programs."

How Nikki, a fresh-faced but headstrong 16-year-old runaway from Sarasota, came to be testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education has almost entirely to do with the Transitional Living Program where she has lived since December.

The program opened in July in a new building on Fifth Street N to help young people ages 16-21 from dysfunctional families who need alternative, safe living arrangements. The facility has a capacity for six young people -- three boys and three girls. Though there are two vacancies at the moment, the beds won't be empty for long, Kelly Crowe, a counselor, said.

"We could fill this facility if it had 12 beds, 20 beds even," Crowe, 27, said.

As Nikki intends to tell the subcommittee today, she was "headed down a path of complete destruction" before entering the program.

She was skipping more school than she was attending. She was experimenting with drugs. Her relationship with her father was so strained that one day he drove her to the YMCA's shelter for runaways. Going home was not an option.

The Transitional Living Program, operated by Family Resources Inc. of St. Petersburg, provides teenagers like Nikki a place to stay for as long as 18 months. During that time, the residents attend school, work at outside jobs and learn the life skills they will need to make a successful transition to adulthood.

Nikki, now a junior at St. Petersburg High School, has a GPA of 3.17 ("and rising," she says), works as a cashier at a nearby Winn-Dixie ("I'm dealing with the stress of my own register") and is determined to go to college on a Bright Futures Scholarship.

"Before I came here I never considered college as an option," Nikki said.

Twice a week, the residents take life skills classes in which they learn everything from good manners to budgeting money.

"Last week was how to hem a pair of pants," Nikki said.

Nikki made such a turnaround that officials in the program thought she would make a convincing witness on behalf of increased funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, which funds such programs. Money also comes from various state, county and local agencies, such as the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg.

About two weeks ago, a supervisor asked Nikki about the various programs in Sarasota and St. Petersburg that she had been in. "She didn't tell me what it was about," Nikki said.

Soon after, another supervisor summoned her to his office with her counselor.

"I'm thinking I'm in trouble," Nikki said.

Instead he asked her how she'd feel about going to Washington, D.C.

"I'd never even spoken with a congressman before," she said.

But she didn't have any trouble crafting a five-minute speech about her experiences. She even videotaped herself using the high school's television production equipment so she could hone her delivery.

Somebody from the National Network for Youth in Washington, D.C., edited the speech and included a lot of program-speak about "Ryan White Title IV" and "21st Century Community Learning Centers" and specifics about the funding requests for fiscal year 2003.

President Bush has requested $113.13-million for Runaway and Homeless Youth Act programs, a $10-million increase over the current year. But the National Network of Youth is asking for a $150-million appropriation.

Nikki is all for it.

"Without the Transitional Living Program, I would not be standing here today," Nikki will tell Congress. "I would be a statistic, not a congressional witness."

On Wednesday, if you want to tell Nikki what a great job she did testifying, don't bother looking for her at school. She'll still be visiting with members of the local congressional delegation.

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