Last Updated March 17, 2020, 9:00 am To our community friends and partners, With the health and well-being of our young adults, staff, YOC partners, volunteers and community being paramount, YouthLink is taking precautionary measures to protect our delivery of safe, quality services. Our Rapid Response Team is in direct communication with Hennepin County…
What would you have do if all you needed was a little time to yourself, or maybe a one-on-one with a trusted confidant, if you didn’t have a space of your own? Imagine being a teenager and not having a bedroom to run to when you need to shut out the world for a few…
Originally Published by Southwest Journal August 11, 2019, by Andrew Hazzard On a rainy Sunday morning, Koliesha Banks stood behind a booth at the Linden Hills farmers market, brewing and serving fresh coffee. Banks works for Wildflyer Coffee, a Minneapolis nonprofit organization that seeks to provide job and life skills training to youth experiencing homelessness in the…
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]In 2004, Randy Palmer and his officemates decided to do away with their office Secret Santa tradition and put the money toward something that would make a difference. That year, they packed toiletries, notebooks, gift cards, and other items young people experiencing homeless would need into seven backpacks and…
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.0.11″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.0.11″ hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.0.11″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_module_placeholder selected_tabs=”all” _i=”0″ _address=”0″][/et_pb_module_placeholder][et_pb_blurb title=”Support YouthLink During COVID-19″ image=”http://www.youthlinkmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/drop-in-2.png” _builder_version=”4.0.11″ link_option_url=”http://www.youthlinkmn.org/2020/03/28781/” hover_enabled=”0″ border_radii_image__hover_enabled=”on|hover” border_radii_image_last_edited=”on|desktop”] During this challenging time, we will remain open for the vulnerable population of young people experiencing homelessness we serve by implementing recommended safety protocols. [/et_pb_blurb][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.0.11″ hover_enabled=”0″][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.0.11″ type=”4_4″][et_pb_module_placeholder selected_tabs=”all” _i=”0″ _address=”0″][/et_pb_module_placeholder][et_pb_blurb title=”Support YouthLink During…
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”] [et_pb_row admin_label=”row”] [et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Whether he’s walking into a room or onto a soccer field, A, one of the players on the YouthLink Up-Top Soccer Team, fills the space with positivity and enthusiasm. This easy optimism is one of the many reasons he was chosen to represent the U.S. as part of the…
Over the past four decades, YouthLink has connected thousands of young people to the services they need to transition from homeless to hopeful. Many of these young people graduate from YouthLink empowered and ready to continue on their journey of self-reliance. We reconnected with some of these alumni to talk about their experiences with YouthLink…
After more than 40 years of serving young people experiencing homelessness in Minneapolis, the staff and leadership at YouthLink saw an opportunity to make some changes—changes that would help us do more for youth.
The much-talked-about Polar Vortex brought the lowest temperatures Minnesota has seen in two decades. Biting wind and 45-below temps kept most people inside for days at a time. But, for youth experiencing homelessness, inside was not exactly an easy option. YouthLink, along with many local organizations, stepped in to make sure these individuals had a…
“It started small and then grew to 200 tents. There was a lot of word of mouth. People talking about it as a safe community. Safer than other places they could go,” Kristin, a member of the YouthLink Outreach team, says of the Franklin/Hiawatha Encampment—a community comprised primarily of Native people experiencing homelessness. While some…