Joshua-John Slaney, Oregon Youth of the Year!

 

 

Josh Slaney has been chosen to represent our kids as the Oregon Youth of the Year! We are extremely proud of Josh for his hard work and positive attitude as he prepares for the Regional Youth of the Year competition.

 

Youth of the Year is the cornerstone of Boys & Girls Club programs in the area of Character & Leadership Development. The award recognizes young people who have overcome significant personal challenges and obstacles, and have made outstanding contributions to their family, school, community and Club. Josh has faced many challenges in his life, as he has lived in nine foster homes and attended ten different schools. Josh was abandoned by his mother early in life, and experienced significant neglect and undernourishment at several of the foster homes he lived in. Josh began attending the Blazers Club because of the daily availability of a hot meal, and now credits the Club for providing him with a sense of family, and with the safest and most consistent home he has had.

 

"Before I had the Boys & Girls Club," Josh says, " there was never really a life. It was just me living. There was never really that feeling inside of me that wanted better for myself because I never actually thought that I could do better. The Boys & Girls Club not only gave me a family, it gave my life purpose."