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Photo by Shawn McHugh

Sherry Kurs, right, ties a balloon to Valeria Cazares’ wrist to raise awareness of teenage runaways and homelessness Saturday afternoon in front of the Budget Center on Yampa Avenue. November is national runaway awareness month.

When Paula Reed’s two daughters were growing up, they never brought home stray animals.

Instead, they brought home stray children.

“The only rules were no boys, no booze and no drugs,” Reed said. “We had a slumber party almost every weekend, and most of the girls they brought in were runaways.”

She said she always was sure to call the parents and alert them of the situation, but thought it was necessary for the girls to have a cool-off period before they reunited with their family.

“My girls took them in because they knew they’d be safe with us,” Reed said. “Sometimes, I helped bring in social services and helped solve some situations before I was even a professional.”

Two decades later, Reed took her experiences and shaped her career as the coordinator for the Rural Collaborative for Runaway and Homeless Youth, which is run through Moffat County’s Youth Services Department.

On Saturday, outside the Community Budget Center on Yampa Avenue, Reed, her husband and several volunteers from the Youth Leadership Team displayed artwork and posters relating to the issue of homelessness in Moffat County.

There were posters and exhibits, such as a scarecrow-like figure sleeping in a box filled with newspapers. The program still is accepting entries in the Creative Art Project contest, which allows young adults ages 12 to 24 to submit any original work they want that addresses the theme of “Answering the Call.”

Prizes will be awarded at a final judging at 2 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Community Budget Center, 555 Yampa Ave. Awards include $200 in Craig Chamber of Commerce spree bucks and an MP3 player.

After receiving $166,000 in grants to help families with eligible children, Reed said the focus is raising awareness.

The group passed out green light bulbs to passersby to symbolize awareness of the little-known issue of homeless and runaway youth in Craig.

A few volunteers also performed skits about what it was like to be crashing on a different couch every night, looking for someone to take them in.

Some of the volunteers were able to improvise the act based on their own experiences.

Volunteer Ryan McMillan, 17, was once a collector of people.

At his home outside of San Francisco, he took in friends, some of whom he had only known for a week or so, who needed a place to stay while avoiding their broken homes.

“It was always me, sharing my room,” he said. “As long as they were in a safe spot I didn’t mind. It was just an addition to the family. I didn’t give my mom a choice.”

Family troubles, however, became the reason why today, McMillan now is a runaway himself.

After making sure his 6-year-old sister was safe in the care of their older sister, McMillan came to Moffat County to stay with his friend, Mandy, and her father.

He’s now a senior at Moffat County High School, just got a job and is using his experiences to help others through Youth Services.

“I figure as long as I’m in this situation, I might as well help others who are,” he said.

Reed said the most rewarding part of her job was the future she was helping create for the children.

She said she’s provided daycare for children of some of the girls from slumber parties from years ago, and she’s seen the potential for success.

“I want to see them be more successful than I am,” she said. “I want to see them finish college. It’s so cool to see them survive this.”