Mona Stephens is the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award recipient.
As the development director for the CASA for Kids Foundation, Stephens is committed to helping others be better versions of themselves. She conducts workshops at Yavapai County Juvenile Court to teach at-risk kids creativity, resiliency and emotional intelligence. She also volunteers for the Launch Pad Teen Center and runs a women’s empowerment group.
“With all of the work I did on myself – going from seeing the world as this dark place to seeing it as a world of possibilities – I can show others how we can live better,” she said. “Life happens for the evolution of our soul and everything I’ve experienced, I would do it the exact same way so that I would have the tools to be able to help, to show others that they deserve to live a good life. You never know who needs to hear that message.”
In a matter-of-fact and non-judgmental sort of way, Stephens recalls her upbringing, surrounded by adults with addiction issues, some functioning better than others. Constantly struggling to find her identity, hunting for meaning and grasping for purpose, she says she has had suicidal thoughts since age 9.
“I had no love for myself. I hated life. I felt like I never fit in anywhere and was constantly thinking, ‘What’s wrong with me?’ When I got to middle school, this new girl started giving me attention. I had a friend for the first time. She showed me drugs as a way to numb the world.”
By age 13, Stephens was intercepting the paycheck her dad would bring home to pay the bills. But there was never enough. “We were really poor.”
She began selling drugs to make money to keep the household operating. She got caught twice and went to jail. Shortly after she was released, her mom died. And that’s when she decided never to sell drugs again.
By 19, she was in an abusive relationship and tried, unsuccessfully, to commit suicide. “I found a thread online about what to do to tweak your attempt. What I got from this, from everyone telling their story of why they wanted to commit suicide, was that each one was telling the other ‘You deserve to live.’”
She decided she would be a light in the darkness for those who were suffering.
Stephens began reading positive, self-help books to change the way she thought. “It starts with the decision. When you have the intention of living better, doing better, things start to happen. I made that decision, figured out how to thrive in life and feel better in it. The first thing you learn is not to be a victim and ask yourself, ‘What am I learning from this?’ Everything has a lesson. My life started changing internally, it was just enough to attract the person I needed.”
That person was the owner of the deli where she was working. “She wanted to promote me to assistant manager but knew I would quit school if she did. She also knew what was going on in my life. She said, ‘With this raise, you can come live with me, but I have two rules: You need to go to college and be home for dinner every night.’ She taught me what it was to have a family. If it weren’t for her giving me the space, I wouldn’t be able to climb out of that hole of generational poverty. I wouldn’t have finished college. She provided the space to break the patterns and get out of that abusive relationship.”
Stephens joined AmeriCorps after college and moved from Pennsylvania to Prescott in 2018.
On Friday, Sept. 20, the banquet room at Starting Point erupted in a burst of cheers and thunderous applause as Mona Stephens’ name was announced as the recipient for the 2024 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award.
“What it felt like to receive the award and be recognized was surreal and very humbling,” she said. “When I grew up, you just did what you were supposed to do. You don’t get praised for doing the right thing, you just get punished for doing the wrong thing. It means so much to be honored. I can show others you don’t have to hide and you can take a moment to allow yourself to feel the praise.” QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
Photo by Kay Lyons: Mona Stephens teaches at-risk kids creativity, resiliency and emotional intelligence. She also volunteers for the Launch Pad Teen Center and runs a women’s empowerment group.
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