"Don't be scared to ask for help," said 20-year-old Amonte Green, who just moved into his own place.
Amonte Green, 20, of Winter Park, Florida, seems to have a life like any other young adult. He has just moved into his own place, he is completing his high school equivalency program and he earns extra money working as a landscaper.
He’s even trying to build a nonprofit for at-risk young adults, called The Green House, where people can come for support in getting education, mentorship and community.
That’s because just earlier this summer, Green was one of those at-risk young adults.
“I’ve always been the type of person to try to figure things out and not ask for help,” Green told InsideEdition.com. “But when it comes down to getting to it and being an adult, I realized I just can’t do it by myself.”
Thankfully, his eighth-grade algebra teacher Kate Demory was there to answer the call.
The pair met when Green was about 15 years old. Green needed extra help in math and they developed a close bond. Over the years they’ve stayed in touch, seeing each other around school or the community.
“I always knew that she was the type of teacher that would be in our lives no matter if we were in her class or not,” Green said. “Kind of grew on me.”
That was also the same year Green’s mom died. When his nearby family members couldn’t take him in, he started living in a group home. He dropped out of school shortly after to start working full time at fast food restaurants.
“When she passed away, it was kind of like I was forced to be on my own,” Green said. “There were moments that I needed help but didn’t take the initiative to ask for it.”
After an incident with another member of the group home, Green was arrested and spent 33 days in jail. Not knowing where else to turn, he rang up Demory.
“I was all in when he asked me for help,” Demory said. “There wasn’t a lot of support that he had outside of jail during that time. We spoke a few times and I knew he was going to need a lot of help.”
In late June, the day of her daughter’s 12th birthday, Demory prepared to pick up Green from jail and collect his belongings from the group home.
The first few days Green was out, they tried to set him up in various motels around town, thanks to money Demory was able to collect from a GoFundMe, but they soon ran into roadblocks when management realized Green was not yet 21.
Eventually, Demory took Green into her own home that she shared with her husband and five kids.
“I didn't think that he would live with us. I wanted to respect that he had been through a lot of trauma and experienced a lot of adversity and have some space of his own to decompress,” Demory said. “But we were happy to have him stay for the two weeks.”
The community caught wind of the story and offered other support, including extending Green a job in landscaping and offering a suite in a home for him to rent. They even volunteered to help Green move in and decorate his home with donated furniture when Green couldn’t take time off work to do it himself.
“I loved it. They did a perfect job,” Green said.
Demory now plans to continue to help Green complete his high school equivalency program and start The Green House, which he’s founding using the leftover money from the GoFundMe campaign.
Green said his biggest advice to young adults in his shoes is, “Never be scared to ask for help. I learned that help will take you a long way.”
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