Founder's Story

Stephanie Acon

As founder of Finally Safe, professionally I come from a Legal background and am a published author, aspiring filmmaker, at-risk youth mentor and advocate, and have partnered with various urban mentoring organizations, as well as spoken as a keynote speaker at the 2015 St. Louis Job Corps Graduation, where i was awarded a achievement plaque from the staff and students.

Additionally, I am a faith-based program conductor at the St. Louis City’s Family Court / Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) where I volunteered routinely (before COVID-19). Throughout my work, I have gained not only the privilege of working with at-risk youth, and juvenile offenders—but have obtained the advantage of understanding their backgrounds, culture, lifestyles, and experiences. I now recognize them individually as children in need of guidance and support. My insight also comes from my own personal childhood experiences as an at-risk youth.

Recently, I took my mentorship and advocating a step higher when I made the life-altering decision to become guardian/custodian of a 15-year-old male mentee and juvenile offender, whose mother passed away and father and relatives were unable to provide adequate care. I rendered my one-bedroom loft downtown, surrendered my time, and dedicated my energy to offer assistance, guidance, discipline, structure, and support to this particular youth on a fulltime basis. I developed a change module and as part of its agenda, I moved into a two-bedroom home in the area of one of the State’s top School Districts in order to provide the child with a change of climate, home stability, and fresh opportunity at education in a safe and diverse atmosphere. The youth’s enrollment in the District provided assessments and a superb IEP Program developed and supported by SSD experts. With distractions minimized, the result was astounding.

The child’s grades went from failing to A’s across the board. In addition, his faith and value for life increased, and inner conviction, self-awareness, and accountability heightened. Also, trust for authority improved. As well, the youth’s hygiene, self-care, and confidence inclined—and, there was a noticeable shift in his overall behavior. Admittedly, persistence and positive activities had to remain prioritized, and consistency was key, but the effects were profound. It was as if innocence had been restored in a child who’d practically raised himself, and survived the harsh realities of life on the streets, with little to zero adult care or supervision.

Although, the guardianship was temporary, the practice was enough to leave a lasting impact on both the lives of the juvenile resident and myself. In conclusion, myself and other mentors began to log similar at-risk youth; noting the outcome of those individuals without consistent support and an appropriate plan in place verses those with. In logging the outcome of youth who were underserved, the patterns and observations were severe. Since this experience, I have looked for alternative school and residence options for youth that I mentor, and who have special needs, but have come across hurdles, hesitation, and unavailability. This service gap is real, and revealed the need and vision for Finally Safe. Our project is not punitive-based but rather a response to the health crisis and social causes of crime and delinquency matters, and the latter issues.

Finally Safe (The FS Center)