6.2. SR 10-06-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7ham Skua n Young peopde experiencing homeiessness are inheranVy good kids to whom bad things have happened. Homelessness is the harsh and unfair reality of over 2,500 young people (16-21) in Minnesota each night. Pmagine their circumstances. You are 17, 18 or 19.You cannot live at home with your family. Maybe it wasn't a safe place to be, so you had to leave. Maybe your family lost their home, and as the oldest you were expected to find your own housing. Maybe you were kicked out when you told your family you identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Or maybe you were removed from your home as a child and have lived in a number of foster care homes ever since. Whatever the cause, the fact is that you are young, you are homeless and you are vulnerable. To survive, you have tried couch-hopping among friends or acquaintances, living in your car, sleeping in empty buildings or tenting in the woods. But you are not consistently safe with little stability. You are tired and it's really hard to muster the energy needed to go to school or work. You may even have had to trade sex for shelter, money or food. Mnk we don'T have any homeless youth in Ellis Mover— think again! Just because you do not see them on street corners does not mean they aren't here. Homeless youth are different from homeless adults. They will go to great lengths to keep their homeless situation hidden from their peers. They are often struggling alone, without supportive adults or a sense of belonging. They may be "invisible" to the average citizen, but local law enforcement, school and social service personnel will tell you homeless youth do exist in our community—we just don't have an accurate count. Indeed, our homeless young people have been showing up and trying to access help at the family homeless shelter in town and the local food shelf. Most existing programs are not designed to address the needs of young people ages 16-21 who are on their own and without stable housing. Currently the best we offer is advice to seek help elsewhere, perhaps Anoka or Minneapolis. (,And indeed Elk River youth are showing up at Hope 4 Youth, a drop-in center in Anoka). This is in sharp contrast to expert recommendations to keep the homeless young person in their home community where they have friends, connections and familiarity. Open Dooms for Youth —A Cowry un§ty Response Communities across Minnesota are awakening to the reality of youth homelessness. Innovative programs have been operating for over twenty years in the Metro area. New programs are being developed based upon these successes. Here in Elk River, an effort is underway to locally meet the needs of our youth experiencing homelessness, through the establishment of a drop-in resource center, named Open Doors for Youth. Drop-in centers provide the opportunity for youth to access both immediate goods and services and more intensive services that lead to reintegration with the community.