Elizabeth Smart Shares Story of Survival at YES 'Invest in Youth' Breakfast

Child kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart said that Tuesday was nine years to the day that her mother gave her the best advice she ever got -- one day after Smart was reunited with her family at age 14 following a harrowing nine-month abduction by a man who called her his "wife."

"She told me that while I could not get back my nine months of captivity, I could choose not to give my captor another day," Smart told a rapt crowd at the Youth Eastside Services' 2012 "Invest in Youth Breakfast" at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue.

Smart was one of a handful of young speakers who captured the audience's attention with stories of how they overcame childhood traumas to find success and triumph. The breakfast raised $520,000 for YES' Lifeline fund and drew 1,000 guests, according to Youth Eastside Services.

Smart's message of overcoming tragedy connects with YES' message of hope for young people who are affected by depression, family violence, drug and alcohol addiction of themselves or their loved ones and homelessness, said Cami Keyes, Marketing and Communications manager for Youth Eastside Services.

Smart's kidnapping and return to her family in Salt Lake City, Utah, made national headlines nearly a decade ago.

Smart, then 14, was kidnapped in June 5, 2002, from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, by Brian David Mitchell, a man known as "Emmanuel," who had worked as a handyman at the Smart home.

For nine months, Mitchell and his companion, Wanda Ileen Barzee, transported Smart to several states. Mitchell raped Smart repeatedly, and called her "his second wife" -- despite her protests -- and forced her to wear a veil in public.

Elizabeth Smart's sister, who was in the bedroom during the kidnapping, eventually remembered where she recognized Mitchell, and Elizabeth Smart was located by police. Mitchell and Barzee are in prison in connection with Smart's kidnapping.

Smart, now a 24-year-old correspondent for ABC News and the founder of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation that advocates for child safety, talked about how she was empowered by realizing that she should not hold anger against the man who kidnapped and raped her for nine months and the woman who helped him.

Smart said the day that she was reunited with her family was the happiest day of her life, until she got married last month.

Smart spoke after two presentations by people who have been helped by YES's services.

The annual breakfast raises money for the Belleve-based organization's education and prevention programs, which include mentorship programs, dating violence prevention programs, parenting classes, Healthy Start for young parents program, and B-GLAD, a program that helps young people who are questioning their sexual identities. Founded in 1968, YES also has offices in Kirkland and Redmond.

Its programs are called "underfunded," because government programs, health insurance and other grants don't cover the costs of the services, Keyes said.

According to YES, the organization saw a jump of 24.3 percent in the cost of uncompensated care in 2011. In the past five years, the agency has provided $1.2 million in uncompensated care, the organization reported.

A group young high school aged women whose families were affected by drug and alcohol abuse and homelesses described how group meetings at their local high school gave them support and mentorship. Today, they all have applied to college.

Gabe, a young man last name wasn't given, said that YES counselors helped him deal with the anger and abandonment issues that resulted from being abandoned by his mother and abused and returned to state custody by his father. Gabe is now a high school graduate and is doing an internship, according to YES.

The organization reports that it is seeing youth who have more severe problems and need more intensive therapy than in the past. But YES Executive Director Patti Skelton-McGougan said the organization was overwhelmed by the strong community support shown in the donations collected Tuesday.

“To have a place where all kids and their families can come for help is a key to a healthy community,” she said.