How one conversation changed the life of a RadioActive alum

RadioActive Youth Media is a program here at KUOW that gives young people the skills and resources to do public radio journalism.

Since RadioActive launched almost 20 years ago, listeners have been tuning in to hear stories about the issues, people, and communities that matter to these budding journalists. And over the years, many listeners have reached out to ask what’s happened to the subjects and reporters behind these stories.

So today, we’re revisiting a feature story from RadioActive alum April Reyes.

It’s about how one conversation with a classmate changed Reyes’s junior year, and ultimately — her life.

From April Reyes: "I was homeless and my life was trash. Then this Seattle family took me in"

It’s been six years since Reyes’s feature story first aired on KUOW. And in that time, she has accomplished a lot. She graduated high school with a full ride scholarship to Pacific Lutheran University.

She got her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees.

Now she’s a social worker in the same school district where she went to high school.

Plus — she’s a homeowner.

And it's clear from the moment you walk in — Reyes loves her home. She has a special spot for her Studio Ghibli DVDs; she's learning how to cook; she's putting down roots.

"It's like crazy that it's like permanent," Reyes said. "I get to just do whatever I want, and when I go to the store, I can just be going around doing whatever, and I'm like, 'Oh, I like this!' and then I'll put it in the house."

Six years ago, owning a home was just a dream for Reyes. When she was working on her feature story, she was focused on graduating high school, and getting to college.

And since then, life has just been nonstop for her.

"One of the things I'm working on now is how do I comfort little April, because now I'm in the security piece of my life now," Reyes said. "I've been reflecting a lot back on these times. I don't slow down."

That's new for Reyes. For so long, she was just trying to survive.

Reyes is learning how to embrace the joy in her life too. She says a lot of it comes from the kids she works with as a social worker.

She is still close with her parents. They live in different cities now, but Reyes still makes a point to call and visit to check in and get advice.

They're still her rock. For Reyes's dad, Alan Lee, bringing Reyes into the family was "transformative."

Lee and Reyes know that they'll both be in each other's lives until the end. And like any other parent-child relationship, they've gone through highs and lows.

"It's experiencing good and fun times, and then also, those other times that are that are more challenging," Lee said. "But even those times...for me was of course, affection and concern for April, and that that will never go away."

Reyes’s life basically changed overnight because of one conversation with a classmate.

It brought her to her family. It brought her to her passion. It brought her home.

Home can take different forms and shapes in our life. And now, Reyes is beginning to create a home of her own.

Listen to the full story above.