This post was written by Karissa Stotts, case manager, YouthLink.

As an outreach worker for YouthLink I often get asked, “Why do youth  become homeless?” to which I answer, “For every reason imaginable.” People generally find that a lackluster response to such a valid question and so I tell them that a more relevant and worthwhile question is “Why do youth stay homeless for so long?”

Jim (note: real name not used to protect client confidentiality), a homeless youth in Hennepin county, has struggled with accessing resources for years because of transportation barriers. “When you’re on the street all you can think about is money. Because money is how you hop the bus to get food and a place to stay that
night. And when you’re hustling on the streets for change so you can
get back to a shelter, you don’t have time or money to go anywhere
else to achieve anything else.”

Month after month I attend resource fairs and community meetings inundating me and other providers with services to help our homeless clientele. And month after month I leave completely baffled, wondering how a network comprising of hundreds of public and non-profit agencies still lacks methods for mass collaboration. Homeless Connect is perhaps the biggest event where services gather together under one roof, but at day’s end, a youth is still left with a pocket notebook full of various addresses and one token.

But finally a community response has evolved.

YouthLink has been given an immensely valuable opportunity to become the Youth Opportunity Center as part of the Heading Home Hennepin Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness. This means that for the first time in the Twin Cities a youth will be able to use one token to get to one location and receive comprehensive and on-going services supporting stabilization, health and wellness, financial assistance, education, employment, and housing.

The specific community partners have yet to be determined, but with construction soon to be on the way, the possibilities are infinite.

A general consensus among most youth at YouthLink is that a one-stop shop in an accessible location will make outcomes happen much quicker and help get them off the street faster.

One youth said “Each day I wake up thinking maybe today is the day I get raped or mugged walking around downtown because I have nowhere to go. Maybe today is the day I get harassed by the police and arrested because I have nowhere to go. Or maybe today is the day I finally give up and leave it all behind.” She believes the Youth Opportunity Center will make a difference for a lot of youth because time isn’t just money. It’s survival.