The Otto Bremer foundation announced it had awarded grants totaling over $4 million over three years to six Twin Cities nonprofit organizations to “enhance safety and short-term stability for homeless youth and enable them to move forward on the path of healthy development.” Those six agencies are YouthLink, Avenues for Homeless Youth, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Face to Face, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, and The Salvation Army.

YouthLink was awarded a three year grant, totaling $619,167. Over the course of those three years, YouthLink will receive $255,000 in the first year, $115,000 in the second year with another $76,000 earned as a two-for-one match, and $115,000 in the third year with an additional $57,000 as a one-for-one match.

Through this substantial investment, the Otto Bremer Foundation will help youth experiencing homelessness gain greater access to daytime support and connections to health, education and employment opportunities. The funds from the Foundation are an investment in a solution for resolving youth homelessness and focus on community involvement and commitment, and collaboration among organizations serving youth.

Specifically, this generous support from the Otto Bremer Foundation will help YouthLink expand the reach of the new Youth Opportunity Center to provide a wider range of services for young people accessing county shelters from 8am – 2pm, Monday through Friday. This proposed effort will address critical gaps homeless youth (16-21) and, in particular, those young people (18-23) who have been forced, out of desperation, to stay at one of the adult shelters due to the lack of emergency beds for youth.

With support from the Otto Bremer Foundation, these young people will have access to existing crisis/basic needs drop-in center interventions, as well as YOC on-site partner services for mental health, eligibility, education and employment supports. Bob Nelson, Program Operations Manager for YouthLink, says this grant is “a terrific opportunity to make an impact on this population as they mature into adults, and help them exit the cycle of homelessness.”

The Youth Opportunity Center provides a one-stop shop for homeless youth to access resources including basic needs, mental and physical health care, employment and education supports, and housing stability. The only model of its kind in the nation, YouthLink looks forward to expanding the reach of the Youth Opportunity Center to more effectively serve young people experiencing homelessness in our community and effect systemic change here and in other parts of the nation.

For updates on how the Foundation’s grant is making an impact, connect with YouthLink on Facebook and Twitter. To learn more about the Otto Bremer Foundation, visit their website or follow them on Twitter. For a press release on the Foundation’s grant awards, click here.