Thursday, February 11, 2010

Worcester Focuses on Youth Homelessness

As we reported last week, the Worcester Youth Housing Task Force released survey results from an August 26, 2009 survey conducted by several services within the Worcester community. The numbers have definitely sparked some interest, including an article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette - "Homeless youths emerge from shadows in the city -- Worcester confronts needs for programs."

Our program is one of the only (if not the only) program that street outreaches to youth under the age of 18 in Worcester. Our goal is to make them aware of all the services out there for them so that they don't have to end up sleeping in their car, a park, or even couch surf. As Rick Koca, Founder of StandUp For Kids, has said, these kids are not only homeless, they feel hopeless. They need to know that (1) someone out there cares about them, (2) they can have a life beyond the streets.

We were very fortunate this week as we had six perspective volunteers show up at our Tuesday Information Sessions. We also had quite a few people stop at the door and peer in as we talked about youth homelessness and our organization's mission.

Remember that August 26th was only one day in one year. The number of homeless kids in Worcester may have risen or dropped since then. These kids needs the help of their community. If only one kid is homeless out there today, we need to find and assist that one kid. No matter how high or low the number, every kid matters.

Contact us at worcester@standupforkids.org on ways you can help. We all lead busy lives so if you can't make the commitment to volunteer, you can always help us spread the word. Your voice could make the difference.

No comments:

Post a Comment