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The kids we work with are struggling to find themselves after enduring all sorts of hardship, so it stands to reason that they can be volatile. You might assume that the staff who works with these young people every day sometimes get numb or indifferent to them. In my experience, the opposite is true. The staff I know are dedicated to do a tough job, because these young lives are worth it.

A case in point is “Ms Erinn.” At our last concert, she read a poem and asked Kitty to sing a song she had written that was inspired by the kids. She explained it this way:

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Many years ago I was a freshman in college, trying to figure out how to cross over as a performer from rock and roll to folk music. My mentor-from-a-distance was a talented young musician named Josh White, Jr. who was doing amazing guitar work on his father’s records. Fast-forward to 2006, when I had the opportunity to start Lost Voices. The first person I recruited to work with me was that same Josh White, Jr.

When I told Josh my idea of therapeutic songwriting with troubled teenagers, he was convinced that I was completely out of my mind. He also agreed to help me give it a try. Then for the next two decades, he partnered with me to help make Lost Voices what it is today.

On December 27, 2024, Josh White, Jr. (Donnie to his friends) left this world for the Next Great Adventure.

I can honestly say that I have never known a more loving spirit. His gentle soul inspired everyone who met him. His voice carried the songs he sang into our hearts. He had an infectious booming laugh that could brighten any room. (more…)

Trauma, whether it stems from abuse, personal loss, or other life-altering events, can leave deep emotional scars. Lost Voices is in the business of helping kids deal with this sort of trauma, and we often talk about that in terms of bringing them “hope and healing.” This is a good way to describe it, but there is a way of thinking and talking about what we do that is actually a lot more accurate. 

We help them build resilience.

Resilience in this context is defined as the ability to adapt and recover from adversity. Building resilience is not about avoiding stress or hardship – it’s about developing the capacity to cope with the hardship, and hopefully to emerge from the experience stronger than before. (more…)

I Want Better For My Life

The kids write sad songs, happy songs, hopeful songs, and goofy songs. Sometimes they are all of these things. Here’s a really sweet and hopeful song written by a group not long ago.

I want better for my life
I want better for my life
I want better for my life
I want better

I hope I’m strong enough
For what life may bring
I hope I’m strong enough
To see what I have seen (more…)

As most Lost Voices supporters probably know by now, many of the young people we work with are survivors of human trafficking. What you may not know is that many of those kids did not understand that what happened to them would be considered trafficking. One reason for this is the large body of misunderstanding about this serious problem.

The phrase “Human Trafficking” often conjures up images of children kidnapped off the street, snatched from the mall, or smuggled across borders in windowless trucks. These circumstances are not completely unknown, but they are rare. The realities of trafficking are no less disturbing, but they are very different from what you might expect. Here are a few of the common myths we encounter and the actual facts:

Myth
Human trafficking involves transporting a person across state or national borders. Michigan has a major trafficking problem because of its borders with Canada.

Fact
Human trafficking is often confused with human smuggling, which involves illegal border crossings. In fact, the crime of human trafficking does not require any movement whatsoever. Survivors can be recruited and trafficked in their own home towns, even their own homes. Of the hundreds of young people Lost Voices has worked with over the years, we know of three who were born outside of the United States. In writing about their experiences, none of them mentioned being coerced or smuggled into the country. (more…)

The kids write sad songs, happy songs, hopeful songs, and goofy songs. Sometimes they are all of these things. Here’s an especially poignant song written by a group earlier this spring.

Walk Through The Door

Today I hate, tomorrow I hurt
I feel like the rocks in the dirt
Most days I feel drained, sometimes I have faith
Heartbreak today, respect tomorrow

Sometimes I’m broken, sometimes I’m healed
Sometimes I’m open, sometimes concealed (more…)

If you’ve been involved with Lost Voices for any length of time, you have probably heard about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The kids we work with have all experienced ACEs, such as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction. Left alone, these traumas can lead to a lifetime of mental and physical problems. The good news, and the main reason the Lost Voices experience can be so important to the kids, is that damage from ACEs can actually be mitigated or reversed by Positive Childhood Experiences, or PCEs.

The positive psychological effects of PCEs have been thoroughly explored and documented by a number of mental health experts. Generally speaking, PCEs involve situations in which a young person feels able to freely express their feelings with people they trust. They feel a sense of belonging and community. They feel supported by peers. They have non-parent adults who take a genuine, non-transactional interest in them. They receive authentic positive reinforcement for their accomplishments.

Sound familiar? It should. All of these elements are core principles of the Lost Voices process. (more…)

The Lost Voices kids constantly amaze us with the incredible song lyrics they write. Sometimes the songs are sad, sometimes they’re happy, sometimes they’re hopeful, sometimes they’re goofy, and sometimes they are all of these things. For the privacy and protection of the kids, we can’t show you their faces, and we can’t let you hear their individual voices. But the songs they write and sing as a group are safe to share, and shed a light on their struggles and successes. This one is one of our favorites, because it’s silly and deeply insightful at the same time.

Amazing Paper

All the amazing things
You can do with paper
There’s no limit because
You’re the creator

Draw a landscape, a cat, a bunny, or a teddy bear.
Draw a monkey on a pony, galloping with fleas in his hair. (more…)

One question people ask about our Lost Voices work is some variation of, “What is your success rate?” That question is both difficult to answer, and very easy to answer. First, I’ll tackle the hard part.

Any kind of therapeutic work can be really tough to measure objectively. There are countless things going on in anyone’s life that make their psychological health incredibly complicated. That’s especially true when you add years of unresolved trauma to the mix. A therapist works to a long term treatment plan, and has various tools to assess progress. But even in this sort of ongoing professional evaluation, real change in the client often goes beyond any of the numbers. 

For the past few years we’ve been working with the CASCAID Group at the University of Michigan School of Nursing to develop ways to measure the effectiveness of our time with the kids. We gather information mostly through interviews with the youth in the program and with facility staff. This gives us valuable insight into how the Lost Voices experience is perceived. What we don’t get to do is follow the overall  progress of the kids from day to day over a long period of time.

Now for the easy part. I can honestly say that our true success rate is 100%. (more…)

One thing about the Lost Voices kids that constantly amazes us is the incredible song lyrics they come up with. Sometimes the songs are sad, sometimes they’re happy, sometimes they’re hopeful, sometimes they’re goofy, and sometimes they are all of these things. For the privacy and protection of the kids, we can’t show you their faces, and we can’t let you hear their individual voices. But the songs they write and sing as a group are safe to share, and shed a light on their struggles and successes.

Finding Hope

Trying to find our way home
We have made so much growth
We are still seeking hope
Light at the end of the road

Trying to find our way home
My mind is telling me no
But still I try to find hope
Light at the end of the road (more…)