The woman who created a Way Out for society's casualties

At the age of 23 and volunteering at a local church, Jessie Jacobs was struck by the realisation that dozens of young girls - so close to home - were entering the dark underworld of prostitution, and even more youngsters were battling drug addiction.

Now Jessie, 29, sits behind a desk in her modest office at the charity she has since founded, aptly named A Way Out. She talks passionately about her work and her own innate feelings, which triggered her desire to make a difference.

There were two significant events that prompted her vision, explains Jessie. They happened while she was volunteering at The Oakwood Centre, in Eaglescliffe, now known as the Tees Valley Community Church.

Jessie would help out on a church outreach bus, known as The Teen Challenge Bus, which acted as a drop-in service for youngsters facing problems such as drugs and prostitution.

"There were really young girls coming on the bus," says Jessie.

"One girl, I think she was maybe 15, looked extremely young, and she was a virgin and went onto the streets. It was just devastating. The fear on these young girls' faces - you could just tell how young and vulnerable they were.

"Another moment was when a boy came on to the bus. He was 13, and he just said, 'I'm not on drugs I'm on methadone'. I thought, how can a 13-year-old be on methadone?"

Jessie also helped out at the Oakwood Young Christians group.

"These kids were the same age and they were in school, having a great time, playing pool and things.

"While I was there, I just kept thinking of these other kids. I always used to say, this is the same town, on the same night - and the difference in the two groups of young people . . .

"I just kept thinking of the injustice of it, and that is what motivated me."

But that was not the only motivation. Jessie says: "I grew up in Stockton and I saw the devastating effects drugs were having.

"People who I went to school with and people who were close to me were developing problems with addiction. For me, the particular worry was heroin and what it was doing to my friends."

At the time of volunteering at the church, Jessie was studying for a masters degree in management at Durham University, where she was working on a dissertation called New Venture Creation within the Voluntary Sector.

Using her resources, Jessie set about researching how to set up a voluntary organisation.

"I was very determined that if I was going to set up something, it would be something excellent," says Jessie. "I wanted it to have excellent output and excellent working practices.

"I did a lot of research before I did anything. I started to get together with other like-minded people, who had the skills and wanted to make a difference.

"In June 2002, we had our first meeting, where we brought all these people together to look at how to take the idea forward."

Jessie's determination was so great that she worked tirelessly for a year, doing a number of part-time jobs to secure enough funding to start the project.

"I knew I wanted to dedicate my life to this - to do some sort of care work. I gave myself one year and put together a business plan," she says.

"My parents thought I was crazy. They thought I was wasting my education, but they believed in me. They are really proud now - my mum never stops talking about me to people."

Using research and a drugs programme she had worked on during a BSc degree in pharmacology, Jessie and her team set up a small outreach programme at the Port Clarence Community Centre, in Stockton, which would run one day a week.

Shortly afterwards, she managed to secure office premises in George Street, Thornaby, which was also in Stockton's red light area.

"Girls were working right outside our office," says Jessie. "We ran it as a drop-in centre with about 12 volunteers."

After growing out of the Thornaby premises, A Way Out moved to its latest home, in Stockton.

"We go to the hardest-to-reach people in the hardest places, and look for people who need particular support."

The service includes one-to-one support, advice, information, group work, courses, workshops and referral to other agencies.

The women's centre is run in a friendly and relaxed way, making the vulnerable feel safe and secure. It provides activities to help tackle life-controlling situations, such as solution-focused therapy, life skills, self esteem courses and alternative therapies.

There is also a specialist outreach service to support street prostitutes, with the aim of getting them out of prostitution, by tackling issues such as addiction, housing, sexual violence and mental health.

The project also delivers a Youth Outreach Service, targeting children and young people at risk of substance misuse. It runs preventative activities aimed at reducing risk factors and enabling young people to make healthier lifestyle choices.

Now, Jessie and her team are looking to expand their services across Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland.

Jessie says: "It is very hard to gauge the actual impact we have made in everyone's lives. The most encouraging thing is when you see the lives of women and young people change and transform.

"There was one young girl who was out of education. She was drinking regularly and self- harming. She was 15 and had been out of school for over a year and had really just been lost through the system. Over the year, we worked with her and saw her stop drinking and stop self- harming and get back into an education programme. Now she wants to get into youth work.

"Everyone is different in the way they get involved with drugs, Nine out of ten times, it is what lies beneath. When you get underneath the surface, there is a story, and the story is usually the family have had some life trauma or they have had situations that, for some reason or another, they've been unable to deal with."

Jessie has had a mixed response from people who hear about her work.

She says there are some very different attitudes. However, when people stop seeing the youngsters as criminals, and see them instead as people who are desperate in a number of ways but with the potential to change, then there is a lot more sympathy.

Although she is proud of her achievements, Jessie knows the war is yet to be won.

She says: "I am overjoyed with what I have achieved already, but as long as there are women and young people that are at risk, vulnerable and living in pain and suffering, I won't feel like the job is done."

To find out more about A Way Out, call 01642-655071.