Food Security United States Project #11098

Bridge the Gap for Homeless Youth

by Latin American Youth Center

Project Report | Mar 24, 2014
Spring Report

By Lori Kaplan | President & CEO

Jorge loads a car full of 5,000 diapers!

Spring is here, and LAYC's street outreach program is busy with lots of new clients and some exciting new partnerships. During the winter, we averaged 30 homeless and runaway youth per month, and your support ensured they received emergency shelter, food, and the supports they needed to work their way back to their families or find stable housing.

We are happy to share that we have a new partnership with DC Diaper Bank, which works to provide an adequate and reliable supply of diapers to babies, toddlers, and their families in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Our very own street outreach case manager Jorge Cabrera picked up 5,000 diapers for the program's young parents. “Many of our families do not have enough money for diapers, and sometimes some of our youth have to choose between diapers and food,” noted Jorge.

In the next few months, we will start a partnership with a local Wal-Mart store that will donate surplus supplies to our program every two weeks, such as shampoo, clothing, and non-perishable food items.

Thank you for your continued support of our work to keep homeless and runaway youth safe and on a path to self-sufficiency.

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Nov 18, 2013
Meet Jonathan

By Lori Kaplan | President & CEO

Jonathan Williams

We are pleased to share with you the story of one of the youth we've worked with the past three months. Jonathan Williams is a happy, thriving young man with a loving and supportive family. At 21, he is high school graduate with dreams of flying planes for the Air Force. Just three months ago, Jonathan had been homeless for six years. After Jonathan's mother passed away when he was 15 and no father in his life, he learned how to survive on the streets.

Today, a couple in Prince George’s County in Maryland is Jonathan's loving and supportive family. The family participates in LAYC's transitional living program, an 18-month host home for homeless youth 16-22 years of age. LAYC found Jonathan through its street outreach program and within a few weeks, Jonathan was enrolled in LAYC's case management services, receiving the supports he needs, and stably housed. Jonathan is now able to be a young person exploring his career and educational goals. For example, the program connected Jonathan with an Air Force recruiter and a program alum who served in the military. Jonathan is also exploring a career in construction management, has applied for admission to Price George’s County Community College, and he is working on an application for a New Futures Scholarship.

The youth we serve, advocate for, and care about depend on us to believe in them and their dreams, and most of all to give them a chance. On any given night, the District of Columbia has an estimated 500 homeless youth; virtually all of them are on the street through no fault of their own. This is why we do our work, so that homeless youth can have a stable place to live, a good support network, and are able to improve their lives.

Thank you for your continued support of our project. Please consider making a generous donation to our project this holiday season.

P.S. Watch Jonathan discuss how he became homeless in this video produced by community partner DC Alliance of Youth Advocates.

Links:

Jonathan Williams Interview

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Aug 6, 2013
News and Updates: Runaway Youth in Washington DC

By John Van Zandt | Project Leader

Project Update:

Summer months are particularly busy months for the Street Outreach Program. Over the past three months, the program reached roughly 120 youth. One of those youth is Ziggy. Ziggy is a young woman who identifies as LGBTQ and expressed that she had had problems with her family due to her sexual orientation. Ziggy had been staying in friends’ houses (couch surfing), in the streets, and in buses. Like many youth in her situation, she did not feel comfortable going to adult homeless shelters given her sexual orientation. LAYC placed Ziggy in a transitional living program, and she is now focused on going back to school and finishing high school. Ziggy is a charismatic young woman with immense potential. She is an avid participant in LAYC’s social group for LGBTQ youth where she is an educator for LGBTQ rights. Watch Ziggy in Why We Count: Homeless Youth in America, by LAYC community partner The Urban Alliance.

Your donations and overall support help make these much needed services available to the youth like Ziggy who are most in need. Our dedicated staff works hard every day to connect these young people to the best available resources so that their cycle of homelessness can end and the opportunity for stability and self-sufficiency is possible. Thank you so much for your support and please spread the word about LAYC's Street Outreach Program.

Project Announcement:

LAYC is excited to announce that we will be implementing a new transitional living program starting this fall. This program will target homeless or runaway youth between the ages of 18-24 who identify as LGBTQ. Services for this population of homeless or runaway youth are particularly warranted given their high numbers and lack of shelters and programs geared towards their specific needs. Participants will live in single occupancy apartments for up to nine months and receive supports to meet personal, educational, and career goals, and ultimately transition to stable housing.

Links:

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