Avenues for Homeless Youth
To the Avenues Community
  
Dear Friends:
 
As 2016 started, we counted our blessings at Avenues -- for the youth who trust us, the staff and volunteers who do the work, and the community that provides financial support. At the same time, we acknowledged the fact that thousands of homeless youth still need support. And so onward we push! 

Glancing Back -- In the month of December, our administrative offices literally filled with gifts. Groups of volunteers shopped, organized and wrapped according to wishlists created by almost 100 youth in our various programs. We heard back from many of the youth who received gifts. A few favorite quotes include:

"This is the best Christmas I've ever had!"

"I got a bathrobe and slippers. I've never had a bathrobe  and this one is in my favorite color!" 

"We decorated the living room with tinsel and lights. They brought a big tree and we spent the afternoon putting ornaments on it and having fun - just like at home."

It's already been a full year since the doors opened to youth at Brooklyn Avenues! In just one year, 99 young people found safety and support at Brooklyn Avenues. 

Looking Ahead -- We are excited to announce the pending launch of Avenues' newest program to support LGBTQ homeless youth -- ConneQT Host Home Program, which we are creating as part of a collaborative pilot project. We are seeking individuals, couples and families to open their homes on a short-term basis (1 week to 3 months) to host youth. Read below about this program, then contact us.

Thank You -- Avenues is able to support hundreds of homeless youth every year because of your support. In fact, we count on the community to provide more than 50% of Avenues' annual budget. Many individuals, families and groups have found very creative and generous ways to support Avenues recently. Please see the right column for some recent activities.

Gratefully,
Deborah Loon, Executive Director 
Brooklyn Avenues is 1 Year Old!

February 6 marked the one year anniversary of the day Brooklyn Avenues started supporting youth. In just one year, this program provided vital support to 99 young people. 

"We really value every success we see in our youth," says case manager, Chandler Jayasekera. "There was a young woman here who at first refused to leave her room. She was afraid of the entire world. Slowly but surely, we convinced her to take small walks to the grocery store. She began to venture further out and now she is doing well as a participant in Job Corps."

Of the youth who lived at Brooklyn Avenues and moved out during its first year, 73% moved on to stable housing -- 48% to live with family or kin and 25% to independent living situations.  A population equal parts male and female-identified, 30% of youth were referred from schools, 38% by other non-profit agencies and 20% were self-referrals.  

"Brooklyn Avenues has proven to be a vital resource to keep the community's homeless youth safe, help them find their footing, resolve issues and move forward to a thriving young adulthood," said Deborah Loon, Avenues Executive Director. "We thank the community for supporting and trusting us." 

Introducing: ConneQT Host Home Program

Avenues for Homeless Youth has joined forces with three partners to create the ConneQT Collaborative. This innovative, collaborative pilot project -- the first of its kind in the nation -- unites three Twin Cities youth-serving agencies (Avenues for Homeless Youth, RECLAIM! and The Link) and Point Source Youth, a national nonprofit out of New York. 

The ConneQT Collaborative brings together three interventions to effectively demonstrate we can end LGBTQ youth homelessness -- Family Reconnection, Short-Term Host Homes, and Rapid Rehousing. It will demonstrate how to take these interventions to scale, develop a much-needed body of research on effective homelessness prevention for youth, and advocate for massive increases in funding to address this urgent problem.

ConneQT Short Term Host Home
Avenues' role in the collaborative is to provide intensive case management for the youth participants and create a new short-term host home program, which we are calling the ConneQT Host Home Program.  

Like our existing three host home programs, ConneQT is a community and volunteer-based response to LGBTQ youth homelessness. All youth participants will be queer-identified. They will be matched with supportive hosts who have been trained to open their homes to young people in need of shelter. The length of stay will range from 1 week to 3 months. 

While ConneQT Host Home is modeled after the GLBT Host Home Program, it will test short-term stays, rather than longer-term stays in host home. Hosts will receive intensive training and support from Avenues' program manager, Ryan Berg, while youth will work closely with Avenues' rock star case manager, Kelly Brazil. 

Interested in getting involved or learning more? Contact: Ryan Berg, Program Manager
612.844.2014 or rberg@avenuesforyouth.org
SAVE THE DATE! 
Presents "Building on Dreams" on May 3 

Avenues' third annual fundraising breakfast, Building on Dreams, will be held May 3rd at the Walker Art Center, 7:30 to 9:00am.  We have 24 tables of 10 to fill with people who want to learn more about youth homelessness and support Avenues! 

Can you help us by hosting a table of 10? Recruit a corporate sponsor? Invite a friend or two to attend with you? This is our signature fundraising and friendraising event of the year. 

Follow the event on Facebook for further updates.  Watch your inbox and mailbox for e-vites and  postcard invitations soon.

To learn about sponsorships, contact Julia O'Brien -- 612.844.2012 or jobrien@avenuesforyouth.org. 
Upcoming Event!

The 2nd Annual Mardi Gras Gala presented by the Victor Donato Memorial Foundation will be held: 

Saturday, February 27, 2016 | 5:30pm
Sacred Heart Activities Building
4087 West Broadway, Robbinsdale

Tickets: $50
To reserve your ticket, call Laurie Blais: 763-458-4083
 
How to Volunteer at Avenues
Learn about Avenues' mission, programs and volunteer opportunities an upcoming Information Session: 
  • Wednesday, February 24, 10:00 - 11:00am 
  • Saturday, February 27, 9:00 - 10:00am 
For more information, contact Melissa Peterson at mpeterson@avenuesforyouth.org.

 

    Charities Review
  
  


Connect with Avenues!

 

1708 Oak Park Avenue North

Minneapolis, MN 55411

612.844.2001 phone

 

 

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This Issue
Brooklyn Avenues Turns 1!
Introducing... ConneQT
How to Volunteer at Avenues
No House to Call My Home: A Reading & Community Discussion
Thank You, Community!
No House to Call My Home: A Reading & Discussion
The community came together on January 30 to discuss the harsh realities faced by LGBTQ homeless youth and what we can do about it. Our thanks to Shir Tikvah and Magers & Quinn Bookstore for co-hosting the event. Avenues' very own Ryan Berg, program manager, read from his new book, 
No House to Call My Home (finalist for a Minnesota Book Award!). Senator Scott Dibble and Rabbi Michael Latz c
hallenged the community to do better by our youth. And Avenues and its partners (The Link, Point Source Youth and RECLAIM!) announced an exciting new pilot project, the ConneQT Collaborative (see article below for more information). 
Thank You, Community! 

Avenues is blessed to work in a community that is generous and committed to supporting homeless youth. We'd like to share with you some of the engaging ways members of this community have stepped forward in the last two months to lend support. Thank you! 

Holiday Gift Drive -- The wishlists of almost 100 youth were filled during the holidays by volunteer shoppers and wrappers! Volunteers gave 109 service hours wrapping and delivering gifts alone! Thank you to everyone who participated in our Holiday Gift Giving Program, including friends in the following organizations:

AbleNet Inc., Annex Teen Clinic, Big Frog of Plymouth, Boston Scientific, Builders Association of the Twin Cities Foundation, Champlin United Methodist Church, Crystal VFW 494 Auxiliary, Crystal VFW Post 494, Edina Community Lutheran Church, Elks Lodge #44, InSpire@Insignia Systems, Kaffeeklatsch & Crochet, Lee Square, Lutheran Church of the Master, North Memorial Trauma Service

Northern Light Church of Christ, OptumRX, Our Savior's Church, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Productivity Inc., Servant of Christ Lutheran Church, St. Anthony Village HS Gender & Sexuality Alliance, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, St. Vincent de Paul Society, The Church of St. Gerard, Victor Donato Memorial Foundation.

Project 578,424 -- Local potter, JJ Jucick, spent weeks in his studio making bowls imprinted with 578,424. That number signifies (according to The National Alliance to End Homelessness) the number of people who, on any given night in this country, sleep outside or in a shelter. Proceeds from JJ's bowl sales went to Avenues for Homeless Youth.  

Lois Hall, Anja Curiskis & Anita Gopalaswamy Dinner and Fundraiser -- More than 40 friends and neighbors gathered together on December 18 to eat, drink and learn about Avenues...and offer financial support. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service --Twin Cities HRC and United Way Arise Project members volunteered their MLK Holiday to deep clean and cook at Minneapolis and Brooklyn Avenues! 

Eric Gilseth Memorial IncrediBowl 
More than 100 friends gathered together on Sunday, January 31 to bowl, laugh, eat pizza and buy raffle tickets to support Avenues. Named in memory of our former board member and good friend, Eric Gilseth, the event raised over $5,200 this year.

Thank you to the IncrediBowl teams this year: Team Sly, EY All-Stars, Team Matthew Schmidt, The Pin Balls, Team Mark It Zero, NABA Angels, The Alley Cats, Team Erin Campbell, The Pin Ups, The Bowling Stones, Team Eric, The Eclectic Talents, Team Stumby, Team Tie Dye and Team Lord of the Pins.  

The 2nd Annual Red Affair 

Our friends at Jungle Red Salon Spa Gallery have been hosting an annual fundraiser for Avenues for 15 years. It gets bigger and better every year. This year, Suzanne Erickson and her team at Jungle Red were joined on February 6 by event co-hosts Esera Tuaolo (Superbowl champion and LGBTQ advocate) and Rusty Kath (TV, Radio and In-Stadium host), along with seekjoy productions and numerous donors and volunteers. 

Personal Care Product Drive -- National Honor Society students from the St. Croix Preparatory School 
collected
and delivered more than 20 boxes filled with personal hygiene products for the youth at Avenues.

Shrey's Towel Drive -- 
Shrey Pothini's annual towel drive brought in 735 bath towels and $600 in monetary donations for Avenues this year. Shrey will receive the "Be the Change" award from HandsOn Twin Cities this month for his efforts. For 9 years, he has been collecting towels and raising awareness of youth homelessness in his community. Congratulations and thank you, Shrey! 

Also this year, Shrey's sister Meena ran her own drive and collected 203 bottles of body wash.  Thank you, Meena!
Is a young person crashing at your home (or a friend's home)? Call us for support. 

Avenues' four Host Home Programs train and support adult volunteers who are willing to host, or are already informally hosting, a young person in their home.

To learn about hosting and the support we offer, contact our program managers:

ConneQT, Minneapolis & Suburban Host Home Programs -- email Ryan Berg or call him at 612-522-2014.   

GLBT Host Home Program -- email Rocki Simões or call her at 612-968-8771.

Watch this three-minute video to learn about the difference a host home can make for a homeless young person!

 Click on this image to watch a short introductory video about Avenues