BIPOC YOUTH ENGAGEMENT INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE AND EQUITY
Youth and young adult-centered, this approach brings services directly to run away, life-struggling, drug-addicted BIPOC youth and young adults who might not seek out services and connecting them to necessary supports.
More over, the program focuses on justice-based approaches to continuously address disproportionalities in the youth population experiencing homelessness. The program also develops continuous feedback loops with BIPOC youth and young adults on the services that they need.
Specialized Homelessness Prevention
Prevention reduces the number of homeless through financial assistance and case management supports to keep people in housing from experiencing homelessness. This service targets specifically BIPOC youth who are exciting correctional facilities, and behavioral and mental health treatment centers. It also target run away immigrant and refugee youth and young adults.
Diversion
Flexible short-term intervention that assists BIPOC youth and young adults with innovative solutions to overcome their housing and legal crisis and avoid entering the shelter system or the juvenile justice system whenever possible, moving quickly from homelessness to housing, and from juvenile justice system to educational settings.
Rapid rehousing
This program is designed to help BIPOC youth and young adults quickly exit homeless and return to permanent housing.
Core components:
Housing Identification
Move-in and Rental assistance
Case Management services and supports
RRH youth and young adults are housing ready right upon entry into the project and are not require sobriety, employment, mental health stability or any other pre-condition to housing search and placement.
Child and Youth Development
—> Community Fleet: Assist job seekers (Youth or parent) - program participants with a car until they gain full time employment, housing and financial stability. They can finance the car with zero down payment no matter how great/bad is their credit score (Financial literacy will also be provided, and participants can sign up for the credit builder program). Indeed, we understand how their struggle makes it harder to survive. Purpose: Job Support and Credit Repair
—> Youth Lounge of Opportunity: a welcoming drop-in space where BIPOC youth and young adults can spend time to talk to another, read a book, use computer, check/send emails, watch news, plan for activities, get help with or do a homework, housing and employment navigation, resume and mock interview. The lounge also provides mail service assistance(Program participants aged 18+ can be authorized to use Lounge address to get mails). Purpose: Listening Positions Space & Youth Empowerment
—-> Youth Learning Center: Provides free tutoring services to program participants in computer - IT and digital skills (Database, Software Development, Business Intelligence), Leadership, STEM, reading and writing. Purpose: Digital Skills For Problem Solving
—> Day Care Center: Provides day care services to parenting youth and young adults’ kids when they are at school, vocational training, apprenticeship, looking for work, or starting work until they gain housing, financial, or emotional stability. Purpose: Emotional Stability While Training or Working