HOPE during COVID: Pivot, support, repeat

The burden of the pandemic has been felt most by those with the fewest resources, including young people at risk for homelessness. It has also affected our ability to connect with youth. But in the battle between HOPE and COVID, we’re winning.

We’ve continued our mission to provide support to 16- to 24-year-olds in crisis by quickly pivoting to new ways of offering services, including appointment-only supply distribution and socially distant case management. Above all, we’ve continued to offer personalized solutions to each young person in need, because hope looks different to each of them.

Here are some inspiring updates on a few of the young people* we’ve helped:

*pseudonyms used to protect privacy

• Paula had been couch hopping before connecting with HOPE 4 Youth (a common way young people avoid sleeping on the streets). Today, Paula is living with Anna, a caring adult who partners with us to end homelessness. Paula has learned how to cook, obtained her driver’s license and is working to achieve her dream of becoming a registered nurse.
• Joe had been sleeping on the streets with only a backpack of personal items when he enrolled in our transitional housing program. While he stayed with us, our staff helped Joe start a career as an auto mechanic. He’s since found a safe, stable place to live and bought a car to get to and from work.
• Allie was living out of her car and bouncing from place to place when she found out she was pregnant. She connected with HOPE 4 Youth and worked with a case manager to access mental health services and an outpatient treatment program for chemical dependency. We also connected her to an early childhood and family education class. Today, Allie and her son are living with her parents while she works part-time and continues her education.

You can give the gift of HOPE every month

Our mission to end youth homelessness is funded, in part, by generous donors who make monthly gifts of HOPE. These donations arrive regularly and ensure we can meet needs promptly, no matter the situation or the season. For example:

• Monthly givers sustained us in 2020 when the pandemic forced the postponement and, in some cases, the cancellation of annual fundraising activities.
• Monthly givers helped to offset the costs of new room dividers, furniture and other accessories needed to protect the health of staff, volunteers and the young people we serve at the HOPE 4 Youth Drop-In Center.
• Monthly givers ensure we can continue to offer food, clothes, laundry facilities, showers and on-site case management on an ongoing basis.

To become a monthly giver, click the “monthly donation” option before entering your gift total on our donation page.