One of the most critical needs for homeless youth is putting a roof over their heads each night. These youth frequently turn to friends, extended family and emergency shelters for help. But, finding these roofs can sometimes prove more challenging than you might think.

YouthLink is helping solve that problem by adding new beds to emergency shelters across the Twin Cities. Most recently, YouthLink partnered with Catholic Charities (with help from federal dollars as well) to add four new beds to the current limited number of beds available in the Twin Cities.

Although four beds doesn’t seem like a lot, that can now provide emergency shelter for 35-40 additional homeless youth throughout the course of a year. That’s a big deal for the nearly 300 unaccompanied homeless young adults in Hennepin county who don’t have a place to stay each night.

There are 48 emergency shelter beds for homeless youth across the Twin Cities, and the demand for those beds is fairly high. These additional four beds will make a big difference to the young people experiencing homelessness in our community every night. For more information, call Denise Williams at 612.252.1241.