For many homeless youth, the biggest challenge is staying on track with studies and keeping a job while living on the streets. Keeping up grades and making it to work each day can be tough when you’re hopping from couch to couch each night. But statistically, we know staying in school and keeping a job are key ingredients to breaking the cycle of poverty and chronic, long-term homelessness.

As thousands of kids across Minnesota prepare for the first day of school next week, YouthLink is preparing to host its own Back to School Kick Off featuring a number of events and festivities including an evening with Freedom Writer, Darrius Garrett on Wed., Aug. 25.

Wow. Best word to describe our end of tournament run. Our team played hard throughout the tournament. On Saturday night, the Men’s team had a heart-breaking loss to the eventual champions of the tournament-Russia. The match itself was something to write home about. Up Top was losing for the majority of the short 14 minutes played in a game. With 2 minutes to go, the team was down 6-4 in favor of Russia.

Wow, Friday has been jam-packed. Our day started with breakfast in the hostel, ready to go. First match: Up Top Men vs. Charlottesville. The guy’s team got in and was off to the races instantly. We scored within the first couple of minutes and momentum kept building from that point. The team won 6-2, an exciting start to our first day.

Tired. That’s the word of the day as Up Top arrived in Washington, D.C. after 24 hours of travel. Our team was more than ready to arrive and check into our rooms. We are staying in a hostel in downtown Washington, D.C., two blocks from the square where they have set up the Street Soccer USA arena (called Kastles Stadium).

After an interesting start to the day, the YouthLink Up Top Street Soccer team was off to the races. KARE -11 showed up in the morning and took video of the youth celebrating their departure. We showed the crew how we get hyped up–Up Top style!

On July 30, 15 young people from Minneapolis who have experienced homelessness in the last year will step on the “court” and participate in the 2010 USA Street Soccer Cup in Washington, DC. The YouthLink team, Up Top, is making its third appearance in the event—it won the event back in 2008 and came in second-place last year.

Graduation is a time for reflection and pause and a glimpse at the future. But, for homeless youth it also signifies a remarkable achievement. Why? Because when you don’t sleep in the same bed every night it tends to detract from your focus and commitment—concepts that are vital to completing a high school education.
That’s why ...Read More →

In this short interview, Tim Bicknell, project designer with Ellerbe Beckett, talks about the story behind the design for the new Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) and gives you a glimpse into what the YOC will look like once completed.

On April 29, community and government leaders, YouthLink staff, and homeless youth convened in the continued crusade to end homelessness in Minneapolis.
Specifically, youth homelessness, as they kicked off construction of the new Youth Opportunity Center near downtown Minneapolis which will open its doors later this year.
A number of government and community leaders spoke at the ...Read More →