Safe Place for Youth

Every year, SPY staff come together for our annual retreat, a time to reflect, reconnect, and focus on the mission that drives our work 💙 We reviewed our strategic plan and goals, celebrated our wins, and lifted up the inspiring work our teams are doing every day to support youth on their journey home 🏠 ✨

I am so excited to share that Safe Place for Youth is preparing to open a 60 bed youth shelter in West Hollywood, this winter! 🎉 🎊 Check out our recent feature in the Beverly Press: At-Risk Youth Find a New Home on Melrose Ave. https://lnkd.in/gfWVvZhc We are are looking for an experienced homeless services leader to oversee this project and SPY's growing interim housing portfolio. Help us find our new Director of Interim Housing by applying or sharing this opportunity with your network! More information here: https://lnkd.in/gRKcDEFb Help us bring hundreds more youth indoors this year! 🩵

🚨🔔Do you have any plans on October 28th? If you live near Santa Clarita and want to help support our youth, this is for you! We need your support asking LACASHA (Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency) to dedicate funds to youth specific programming to prevent them from falling into homelessness. As of today, there are no dedicated youth-specific dollars set aside with LACAHSA, one of the newest and largest providers of homelessness prevention funding. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again! Our voices have the power to enact the most change. Help us advocate for our youth! 📣 RSVP for SPY’s monthly virtual Happy Half-Hour (HHH). This month’s HHH will be on October 21st from 5:30-6:00pm! https://lnkd.in/g_2pHmjd

Got an extra sweater or pair of sweats tucked away? We’d love to give it a new life! As the weather cools, we are in urgent need of warm men’s clothing for our youth. Every pair of jeans, every hoodie, every shirt you share is a hug of comfort for someone braving the cold. Thank you for keeping our community warm this winter and for being the heart behind it all! 💙 ✨ A good rule of thumb: if it’s something you’d feel comfortable wearing off the rack to an important occasion, it’s great for our youth! ✨ Drop-off Address: 2471 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291 Drop-off Hours: Mon-Fri 11am-5pm ; Sat-Sun 11am-2pm

Housing is the foundation on which our young people rebuild their lives. We’ve seen thousands of success stories at Safe Place for Youth: young people going back to school, starting their careers, and achieving the dreams they put on hold for survival. All of these wins start with the stability of a safe place to sleep. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed slashing two-thirds of the permanent housing budget, effectively slamming the door on countless young people right here in Los Angeles. Housing for transition-aged youth is at risk, including the permanent housing services and programs that 1,245 SPY youth rely on yearly. Our young people are worth more, and their access to stable housing must be protected. Safe Place for Youth believes in the potential of every young person on their path to stability. We have seen the power of a united community committed to helping youth as they navigate homelessness. As federal resources to house youth dwindle, it is more important than ever that we safeguard housing for youth locally. You can act right now. Contact your representatives in Congress and tell them youth deserve permanent supportive housing. Ensure housing and supportive services in Los Angeles have the tools they need by volunteering at or donating to your local youth shelter. Thank you for standing with SPY and our young people as we continue to fight for the futures of every young person who walks through our doors.

Yesterday marked the first of our Junk Journaling Workshops, and it was absolutely amazing! 🤩 Junk journaling is focused on making journal entries from recycled materials like books, magazines, receipts, or scraps to collage and create interesting or sentimental entries. It was so beautiful watching members express their creativity while also feeling safe to be vulnerable and share their journals with all of us 🥹💌

💙Throwback Thursday!💙 We want to shout out our Stepping Stones Housing Site for always finding new and creative ways to bring joy to our members every day! 🍌🍨😋 A few weeks ago, during the heat wave, staff found a way to bring some end of summer fun to our youth with an ice cream parlor! Our members had a blast building their own sundaes and banana splits. What a sweet way to stay cool and enjoy the end of summer together! ❄️💙

📣 Are you free on September 30th? Do you live near Beverly Hills? Do you love the work that SPY does? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is for you! 📣 We need your support asking LACASHA (Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency) to dedicate funds to youth specific programming to prevent them from falling into homelessness. As of today, there are no dedicated youth-specific dollars set aside with LACAHSA, one of the newest and largest providers of homelessness prevention funding. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again! Our voices have the power to enact the most change. Help us advocate for our youth! 🔗 RSVP for SPY’s monthly virtual Happy Half-Hour (HHH) to learn how to give public comment. This month’s HHH will be on September 24th from 5:30-6:00pm! 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gMeWWabZ...