Nov 23, 2017

What do you do


“What do you do?” At SYM, we’re asked that a lot – most recently by KVUE during National Homeless Youth Month. A new academic report had pointed out that 1 in 10 young adults in America now experience homelessness at least once in their lives. We love to give voice to our clients, so we asked them.

Their first answer was food. Yes, we do that. We serve about 50 meals a day (to an average of 25 people).
Their second answer was clothing. Yes. We receive about 85,000 donations from folks cleaning out their closets. We carefully sort, store and offer it to clients by season. It’s a ministry that helps both the giver and the receiver.

Their third answer was toiletries. Yep. Same story: We solicit unwanted items from people's travels or bathroom drawers; we buy other items: ethnic hair care products, over-the-counter meds and self-care products like bandages and antibiotic ointments. Often, they help clients avoid trips to the emergency room or the hospital.

Their next answer was "a safe place to hang out." Yep. We put about a third of our resources into paying rent so we have a safe place for clients to come daily. We're egalitarian. Everyone has to behave and be safe in our space: all colors, orientations, interests, cliques or clubs. And in that space, we talk. We engage. We delve deep into relevant issues: mental health, substance abuse, sex and relationships, addiction, jobs, life planning.


That leads me to my own answer for what we do. We use things -- food, clothing, toiletries, space -- as openings to become life coaches for homeless young adults. We really are all about two words: street and youth. Our clients are homeless and dependent on the street for housing, friends, economy and more. And our clients are youths -- developing young adults.


Those two words better describe their needs than their homelessness. They need all the things that our society has decided young developing adults need: something to learn, someone to teach them, a mentor to guide them, room for self-discovery, a chance to make mistakes – in fact, lots of second chances – entry-level jobs, training, housing and encouragement.

You'll find all of that on the 40 acres of UT east of Guadalupe Street. Why should it be unavailable for the homeless young adults who live on the other side of the street? We don't think it should, so we stand in the gap for now. One day, we hope our methods will be duplicated, stolen, or discovered anew by lots of organizations, and that we can end the homeless poverty of young developing adults in America. Amen and amen.

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