Heartbeat of Brevard: Pamela Bress
EverythingBrevard magazine launched the Heartbeat of Brevard to honor the legacy of those with the strongest impact on the Space Coast. We are proud to introduce Pamela Bress of WAYS for Life.
Name: Pamela Bress, Esquire
Organization: WAYS for Life, Inc. (formerly known as Ready for Life Brevard, Inc.)
Position: Co-founder and executive director
Describe WAYS for Life:
WAYS for Life provides a unique solution to the problems faced by unaccompanied teens and young adults aging out of foster care by providing a drop-in educational learning center where clients, who we refer to as members, can come as needed to receive free wraparound services, all under one roof, to help them successfully transition to adulthood.
Experience:
In addition to practicing law for more than 33 years, family and community service are a major part of Pamela Bress’s life. Her experience raising three daughters — one who has special needs — with husband, James, led her to discover her purpose and passion in life: improving the lives of children in our community, especially homeless youth and those aging out of foster care who do not have a family to support them.
For years, Bress was the senior staff attorney at Brevard County Legal Aid, Inc. (BCLA), where she represented youth aging out of foster care. That’s where she learned about the lack of critical resources, services, and affordable housing for homeless youth and youth exiting the child welfare system at age 18.
The lack of support for the youth she represented who were transitioning to adulthood caused them to become homeless, desperate, and turn to crime for survival. After visiting one of her clients in a maximum-security prison on the client's 21st birthday, Bress decided to create a place youth could go to for services instead of entering the pipeline to prison.
Bress believed so much in a program she worked with in Pinellas County called Ready for Life (RFL) that she decided to bring it to Brevard County. Bress recruited other social leaders in Brevard to form Ready for Life Brevard, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) that would focus on getting unaccompanied youth, teens, and young adults aging out of foster care ready for life. She resigned from BCLA in 2019 to become the full-time executive director of RFLB, making a commitment to volunteer for 15 months to get the RFLB drop-in center for youth off the ground.
RFLB opened the doors to its drop-in center for youth in January 2020 and served 40 youth in its first year. Year two, RFLB served 130 youth. Halfway through its third year in operation, RFLB is serving 185 youth plus 54 of their dependent children.
In March, RFLB became known as Ways for Life, Inc. (WAYS). WAYS stands for Wraparound Youth Services, a model of care management that the team utilizes at the drop-in center. When youth enter the WAYS center, a youth specialist meets them where they are at and helps them create a personal success plan with goals that the WAYS team helps them achieve — goals like finding a place to live, getting a job, or securing a driver's license.
Over the past 25 years, Bress has volunteered for several organizations that serve youth including coaching academic teams in the public-school system (Odyssey of the Mind, Future Problem Solving, and Mock Trial), coaching Special Olympics, TOPSoccer, and traditional sports teams, Justice Teaching at Central Middle School and Hoover Middle School, and serving on the board of directors for Club Esteem, Promise in Brevard, and the statewide Future Problem Solving Program.
Bress received the following honors for her community service to the youth in Brevard:
- Brevard Public Schools Volunteer of the Year for Hoover Middle School 2010 and 2014
- Florida Youth Soccer Association Publix TOPSoccer Volunteer of the Year 2012
- Brevard County Bar Association A. Max Brewer Community Service Award for Outstanding Community Service 2014
- Statewide Guardian Ad Litem Program Child Advocate of the Year 2016
- Judge J. Preston Silvernail Civility Award 2020
- Orlando Channel 6 News Getting Results Award 2021
- Florida Institute of Technology WeVenture Women of the Year Nominee 2021
- Honor America 2022 Patriot Award for Brevard County
The services at WAYS include the following:
- A volunteer mentor for each member who wants one
- A youth specialist who helps each member create and implement a personal success plan
- Assistance with finding a safe place to live, including help with securing the new Housing and Urban Development (HUD) FYI (Foster Youth to Independence Initiative) Housing Choice Voucher, as well as assistance securing furniture and furnishings
- An Educational Learning Lab, which includes a GED FastTrack Program and a Career Pathways Ready for Work job readiness program. Both programs are equipped with volunteers who act as tutors and job coaches to help members obtain their GED or high school diploma and then pursue a career path of their choice
- Lift Up Young Lives 30-week life skills class to earn laptop and good used car
- Weekly budget coaching and monthly virtual life skills classes on various topics
- Assistance with obtaining a guardian advocate and SSI if the youth have a disability
- Assistance with finding a job, enrolling in vocational rehabilitation, or participating in a work study program
- Assistance with transportation (a transporter, bus passes, ride sharing, obtaining driver’s license and a car)
- On site mental health counseling, therapy, and targeted case management
- Assistance with navigating health care and health insurance
- Legal services
- Free activities (i.e. mentor/mentee meet and greet events, guest speakers, weekly health and wellness activities, a library, an art program, Mommy and Me, etc.)
- Clothes for work or school
- Food pantry
- Personal hygiene items, baby supplies, and home furnishings
WAYS differs from other youth programs as it utilizes a peer-to-peer approach to services. WAYS employs youth specialists with experience in foster care to help members achieve their goals. WAYS is a partner with the Brevard Youth Leadership Council (BYLC), which is comprised of teens in foster care who want to improve the policy and practice of foster care through “Voice and Choice” and statewide advocacy. WAYS and BYLC work together on the WAYS/BYLC mentor program and the WAYS/BYLC monthly Life Skills classes. A member of the BYLC is on the WAYS board of directors. WAYS staff and BYLC members meet regularly, entertain youth focus groups, and share resources.
CONNECT
WAYS for Life does not discriminate based on race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, physical, mental, or economic status. Members are primarily ages 15-25.
321-204-4577
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