New Avenues For Youth Awarded U.S. Department Of HHS Basic Centers Grant (Photo) -10/05/20
PORTLAND, OREGON: New Avenues for Youth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and intervention of youth homelessness, has been awarded a Basic Centers grant from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
The $190,000 annual grant (renewable for two additional years) will transform New Avenues’ Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) in East Multnomah County’s Rockwood neighborhood from a daytime facility into a 24/7 Basic Center that will operate as a service hub for youth under 18 experiencing housing instability. The YOC will connect to a broad network of community-based services offered by the Alba Collaborative, an innovative partnership between New Avenues, Latino Network, Youth Progress Association, Lines for Life, and National Safe Place Network.
“Receiving a Basic Centers grant is a true difference-maker in our youth homelessness prevention efforts,” said Sean Suib, Executive Director of New Avenues. “The funding helps ensure that youth living unstably, families, and community stakeholders always have a safe place to turn for help.”
Leveraging New Avenues’ YOC—where youth can drop in or be referred for services—the Alba Collaborative will provide culturally responsive case management, family mediation and reunification, crisis intervention, access to culturally specific emergency shelter options, and connection to wraparound services like alternative education, job training and employment, housing programs, and culturally specific support for LGBTQIA2S+ youth, youth survivors of sex trafficking, and gang-impacted youth. The Alba Collaborative will also establish National Safe Place Network sites throughout the community—businesses, service providers, and spaces frequented by youth—that can link individuals to the YOC for services.
Said U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, “A safe place to call home is a basic human right, and in America—the richest country in the history of the world—not a single person should be without one. I applaud New Avenues for Youth for their critical outreach that, with compassion and support, helps young Oregonians find safety and shelter, and I’m pleased that this grant will help extend that crucial work."
______________
New Avenues for Youth is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and intervention of youth homelessness. Since 1997, our programs and services have impacted more than 20,000 young people as they work to overcome barriers, pursue their goals, and realize their potential. From supporting basic needs like meals and counseling to providing opportunities for education, job training, employment, and housing, we meet youth where they are—and help them get where they want to go. www.newavenues.org.
