By Amelia Williams, member for the Health Youth Ambassadors

Amelia shared the following speech as the opening of the 2024 Rally for Kentucky Kids in the Rotunda at the 20th annual Children’s Advocacy Day at the Capitol. 

Good morning and welcome everyone to the Kentucky State Capitol for the 20th Annual Children’s Advocacy Day. My name is Amelia Williams and I am a Junior from Graves County and a member of the Health Youth Ambassadors program with KYA. 

This year, Kentucky Youth Advocates is celebrating 20 years of bringing advocates together at the Capitol to rally for kids. Throughout the years, KYA has seen this event grow and evolve, and here today we have over 250 students gathered to raise their voices. As a former foster youth, and someone impacted by the 2021 tornadoes in Western Kentucky, finding space for young people to share their stories and advocate for change is so important to me. 

At the age of 4, I went into foster care because of my parents’ drug issues and grew up in the system and surrounded by kids in the system. I was blessed with good foster parents and an okay foster experience, but many others were not this fortunate. I saw my brother get sent from home to home and so many other children go through similar struggles. Throughout this, they have case workers and lawyers speaking for them, not being able to voice their struggles and concerns for themselves. In seeing and hearing about this, I came to the realization that this not only occurs in the foster system but also in situations in schools, homes, and many other places where children don’t have a loud enough voice to stick up for them. 

I decided I want to be the change, both in my family’s vicious drug cycle and also to make myself available to listen to others and help to be their voice or motivate them to use theirs. That’s when I discovered KYA. I knew the second that I was reading into KYA that I wanted to be able to be a leader and voice for the youth. I believed I could use my lived experience and desire for change to help create a better future for Kentucky kids. I’m grateful to be speaking here today in front of Governor Beshear and leadership from the General Assembly as I can attest to the impact of their decisions on my family and community – especially after my hometown was hit with the December 2021 tornado. 

My church, First Baptist Church of Mayfield, was hit by the tornado in the middle of a multi-million dollar renovation and left the whole church wondering, wondering how we would function, when we would be back in the building, just a whole bunch of questions. I saw many of my friends’ houses torn apart, businesses just gone overnight, devastation everywhere. After it all, there was flat land where buildings used to stand high. But that’s not all. I also saw community, a new togetherness that only such a tragedy can bring, and most of all, a deeper appreciation for those who led us through it.

People appreciated not only the local leaders, but also the state leaders. Leaders listening to our needs and, most importantly, working together brings the best results for kids like me and communities like mine. 

Being here today is an opportunity for child advocates from across the Commonwealth to come together with a common priority – Kentucky kids. The commitment to advocating for a better tomorrow for Kentucky kids doesn’t end today, we need the energy and passion that you brought here today to continue beyond Children’s Advocacy Day as we work together to improve the lives of Kentucky kids and families.