At any given moment, there are 13,000 to 15,000 unaccompanied youth and young adults in our state who are experiencing homelessness.
These young people are in communities across Washington, in both rural and urban areas. They are our students, our neighbors, our friends and our children.
A Way Home Washington, together with a widespread and diverse coalition of nonprofits, elected officials, philanthropies and businesses, has committed to helping these young people through our Anchor Community Initiative. Together, we will help all young people in this state find their way home.
We believe communities should have the resources and resolve to say yes to any young person who wants to come in and receive help. Not just for an emergency shelter stay, but for the opportunity to return home when safe or creating a long-term path for safe housing, employment and education attainment.
We call this “Yes to Yes.”
It is a toxic myth that young people want to be out on the streets or without a permanent place to live.
It is a toxic myth that young people want to be out on the streets or without a permanent place to live.
This myth ignores the abuse and neglect that most young people on the streets report experiencing, the number of foster homes, different schools and lost hobbies and passions most have experienced. It ignores the fact that many are sexually coerced and exploited, and the generational impact that poverty, institutional racism and homophobia have on young people.
Washington continues to try and step up and meet this challenge. Gov. Jay Inslee and the state Legislature established the Office of Homeless Youth in 2015, one of the few state-level agencies in the country dedicated to preventing and ending youth and young adult homelessness. Together, our collective efforts can deliver on the promise to end youth homelessness.
In late September we joined with First Lady Trudi Inslee, Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Mike McCready to announce that Pierce, Yakima, Walla Walla and Spokane counties will be the first cohort of four in the initiative. With local leaders on the ground, we will bring all parts of these communities to the table and develop a plan that covers prevention, long-term housing, treatment services, employment and educational attainment. Our goal is to not only house these young people, but provide a path forward to a stable, healthy life. Eventually, we hope to expand to a total of 12 to 15 communities throughout the state.
We will listen to the true experts on homelessness: the young people who have experienced it and the front-line professionals who know what works and what doesn’t. Local communities are in the best position to do this work and the Anchor Community Initiative will support them and leave them in an even stronger position than when we arrived.
The system we build together will focus on addressing the root causes of youth and young adult homelessness to help prevent it all together. This part is very simple: If we can prevent young people from experiencing homelessness, they are significantly less likely to experience homelessness as adults.
If we can prevent young people from experiencing homelessness, they are significantly less likely to experience homelessness as adults.
This is a unique point in time for Washington state and we are positioned to be a model for the nation. With everyone coming together, we can become the first state in the country to end youth and young adult homelessness. Will you join us?
Jim Theofelis is the founding executive director at A Way Home Washington.
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Treehouse raises the graduation rate for Washington youth in foster care
Check out the full Oct. 31 - Nov. 6 issue.
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