In-Person Volunteering Back! Plus Helping From Anywhere in the US

 

In-kind donors stepped up ...
Volunteers from groups like the Buy Nothing Project  Group from Forest North Estates, Village Oaks and Parmer Village, from Regents High School and from Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church  brought us this carload of love earlier this month!

... and clients were ready!
The return of seasonal weather after February's frigid "SNOVID-21"
 brought an influx of clients eager for food, clothing and other items. 
  Masks, social distancing and hand-washing are still the rule
 outside the Drop-in Center.

Arrival of baby changed it all for client Chuy

 

Chuy became a client several years ago when she found herself on the streets, addicted to drugs, beset with anxiety, drama and trauma. At first, she came for food, sleeping bags, clothing, etc. Later, she joined Art Group and displayed a wonderful talent. Next, she experienced healing during Peer Support Group and Bible Study, followed by deep, one-on-one counseling sessions with team members.

   Addiction, however, hounded her – until the day she discovered that she was pregnant with her first child. That day was the beginning of her journey to long-term sobriety. She was living in a tent near the UT campus, working long shifts and saving money for the day her baby was born. She began making decisions with her child in mind. She found a stable home with a family member, and when her son was born, she gave him every comfort.

   When the pandemic hit, she reconnected with our on-line support group several times a week, logging onto Zoom for SYMin Sisters and Heart to Heart. These groups offered her wisdom and prayer. Today, she has an excellent job and is working toward new and larger goals. Chuy is an excellent mother, and she loves her son, whom she named Guage, with all her heart. We are so proud of Chuy!

SYMin targets infant mortality, and a big surprise emerges

 

Some weeks ago, I noticed a big change had sneaked up on us -- a good change. First, I want to go back to our 2015 annual report. We made a pledge to do something about a terrible problem: the infant mortality rate among our clients living around Guadalupe Street was far higher than the rate elsewhere in the United States. Women were becoming pregnant, and the children were not being born alive or weren't being born at all, due to late-term miscarriages or stillbirth or failure to thrive in the first month. Most who did survive wound up in CPS custody.

It was a horrible situation, and we went to work on it. We tried several things, but none worked until we called the men and women in the community together. First, we urged them to have fewer babies, because they were not ready. That message didn’t resonate. A second message did: children were dying because we weren't taking good care of the pregnant mothers. At that time, it was common for the community to say to newly pregnant women, “You stay right here with us on the street and we’ll take care of you.” That failed to recognize problems of stress and drugs, especially a new drug at that time called K2 or synthetic cannabinoid.

So -- we made it a community goal that women would spend as many months of their pregnancies off the streets as possible. As a result, it is now common for girls who get pregnant to say, “Oh, my goodness, I have to get off the streets,” and for them to seek resources, including friends, family or supported housing. Over the next 18 months -- well into 2017 – they made solid progress. We taught them about prenatal care for themselves and their unborn, and how to make plans for nine months ahead. Still, the newborns often wound up in CPS custody, as has been the case for almost all my 20 years working with homeless young adults.

It’s 2020 now (oh boy, is it ever!). We still have about one pregnancy a month – or about nine pregnant clients at any given time, but something amazing has happened. We began hiring more diverse members to our team. We hired more women, and they formed a women's group, and the women's group has been particularly supportive of pregnant women and new mothers. I noticed about a month ago that we have six women under our care whose children are living at home with them. That’s far more than ever!

Yes, it's still a struggle for our moms, and perhaps it's not ideal, but they are now stable enough they can keep their kids. (There usually is some inspection by CPS from time to time.) I'm really proud of our clients for owning the challenge of making enough change that they can keep their children with them and raise them! This is how we break the cycle of street youth and street dependency.

This is how poverty is solved -- one family at a time. I am often asked why there are homeless young adults. And the answer is the breakdown of the family. I don't want to blame anyone, but one way or another the homeless kiddos do not have the same support their peers in college or at home have – the same housing, supportive parents, educational opportunities and so on. The difference is the families of origin of our clients don’t have the tools or resources or the ability to give that support.

We continue to work toward solutions. And for now, we celebrate the fact that clients under our care have kids at home with them! Thank you for supporting our work and being involved with us. It truly does make a difference! Change is why we love working with our homeless young adults. The future is very bright for them -- when they claim it. And we love being guidance counselors as they move through this journey and mature and claim their futures!

                                  -- TERRY

Happy Juneteenth!

On June 19, the clients were celebrating Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas and this year symbolized hope of social justice and equality for all. Clients enjoyed delicious hot meals cooked by volunteers with donated ingredients. Serving was through the front gate of the Drop-in Center; check out the menu!

Clients flocking to SYMin services!

Covid-19 restrictions hit many clients hard immediately, costing them jobs and apartments. Clients turned to SYMin en masse -- we reached an all-time April high of 150 clients with drop-by and on-line services. Clients have fulfilled 422 goals this year thru April, another all-time high. We split our staff into two teams -- one stays at home and works the phones and internet, chasing down resources that suddenly are more difficult to find; the other sorts in-kind donations and prepares food at the Drop-in Center so clients can be served as they come to the gate outside.

Here are some highlights from a recent day:

• Five people spent time in our Zoom prayer group.
• One client got a new job and plans to come to the drop-by for work clothes.
• Another spent some time learning DIY car repair since she cannot afford repairs right now.
• Eight clients joined us for Virtual Movie Night and enjoyed chatting and watching Scooby Doo!
• Eighteen clients came by to get food pantry bags and clothing.
• A young woman made use of the outside laptop to research jobs and how to get a copy of her social security card.

Hot meals still served

Hot meals are still a favorite. We prepare them inside the Drop-in Center, then pass them to clients through the gate outside.

Drop-by services

We re-organized our clothing and other client supplies so we can carry the right sizes out to the front gate more quickly.

Client events go on-line

Our client events have all gone virtual since the Drop-in Center became inaccessible to groups of 10 or more. Client links to them on Facebook.

Partner Opportunities During this pandemic

Partner opportunities ...

We're keen to reboot our partner program as soon as we know it's safe for our clients, staff and volunteers. We anticipate that we'll make calls sometime in May for the following:

 1. Volunteers who can work at least 8 hours a week alone or in pairs
 2. Groups of 8-10 who can work on the weekend without clients to get us ready to reopen
 3. Two full-time Monday through Friday 9am--5pm summer interns.
 4. Groups who can come to our center for a special two-hour event for clients of high value but limited interaction. (e.g., a social distanced activity like a worship band, individual crafts or special meal).

  We need to know our clients are safe and won't go through an infection cycle before we can reboot our volunteer program and indoor events. You can call our home team (512 553-3796) to register your interest in any of these once we are able to proceed.

Before the virus!

One of our clients speaks to a group of volunteer youth from Covenant Presbyterian Church, who included SYMin in their annual "Love Austin" community service event. They were the last group that was able to mingle with clients before the coronavirus restrictions took hold. We look forward to group events returning when it's safe for all. Give our home team a call at 512 553-3796!

COVID-19 Mode: 'Drop by the Drop-in'

We've suspended direct volunteerism because of COVID-19, and we're preparing to move to virtual operations by making part of our staff into a "home team" to make sure we stay in touch with you, clients and supporters. We are not going away in this crisis.


Food insecurity -- Half of our clients have housing but no longer have jobs, income, and almost all supportive services they know are closed. The other half live outdoors. Camping is much easier right now because of social distancing and stay-at-home orders. But there is very little food available to them as well.

Food collection -- We are collecting non-perishable food and distributing it. We encourage donors to buy a little extra, combine it with neighbors', and make a combined run to the Drop-in Center once a week. Our current open hours are posted on Facebook, or you can call our home team at 512 553 3796.

Health -- So far, our clients are healthy. They are grateful for assistance in this time. We pray that our staff and clients remain safe and supported.

Going virtual -- We are creating ways for clients to call, text or message us so we can let them know about resources, help them explore options, and continue to provide our life-changing guidance counseling. If the supply chain gets better, we would love to offer earn and learn opportunities. We may have virtual volunteer positions available.

Depend on Facebook -- Please stay tuned to our Facebook page as we transition to drop-by service with call-in and message service, too. Last week we served about 25 homeless young adults each day. They were hungry, and some were anxiety-ridden. These are strange and different times but we will get through them together! Mostly we've noticed that they want to continue to be connected with us and continue their relationship with us. We are grateful.

Go to our facebook page

Volunteers 'Ignite' for SYMin!

'Love Austin'
Our volunteers love SYMin! Youth from Covenant Presbyterian Church (shown above) participated in our latest client/volunteer neighborhood cleanup project. It was part of their community-wide day of service called "Love Austin."

Ignite Texas is a student volunteer organization that connects incoming UT and ACC freshmen and transfer students to the Christian community at UT and throughout the city. Students from Ignite recently helped organize in-kind donations at the Drop-In Center and, obviously, had a lot of fun doing it!

'... so grateful to have found you!'

Change that matters is what we're all about!

Chris, shown at left performing during Talent Night, is a client who frequented the Drop-in Center and spent many hours with us. He has been accomplishing meaningful goals as he works to put his life on a positive track. Recently, he wrote us the thank-you note shown below.

Volunteer with us, and take home a smile!

This is Outbound Engine's second year to volunteer with us! They are a tech company out of Austin that does automated marketing for small businesses.  

They raised more than $500 around the office, then used the money to buy nonperishables for our food box program!

They brought enough food to make 22 bags of delicious-ness!

When they dropped off the donations, they stayed to help us organize our blanket room, which was a mess!

Our Volunteers Have Impact

Our volunteers have impact!

In-kind donations for the summer were $42,000 compared to $48,000 the year before. However, we're in record territory for 2019 thanks go amazing in-kind donors who keep thinking of us when they see food or items we could use that are no longer wanted! We've received $130,000 in items so far this year!Over the summer, our volunteers contributed 1,000 hours. That's a bit down compared to the summer before. But how does it all add to impact? We got to serve 59 new clients this summer (up from the previous summer). Our clients hung out with us 5,000 hours this summer (much bigger than last summer)! All of this amazing stuff lead to 253 goals achieved by our clients over the summer to change their lives! Thank you for being part of our team to keep this going!

Here's a one-person volunteer job!

Before ...

... and after

We are getting the Drop-in Center organized. One of our best volunteer organizers, Lilian Seidel, (shown at right) recently whipped our art room into shape! We have oodles of opportunities for one person!

Alan Martinez - A Street Youth Volunteer Story

Alan Martinez grew up in Bulverde, a town of 4,630 located north of San Antonio. When he moved to Austin to attend UT, what he saw near the campus gave him pause.

“There were street youths all around,” he recalled, “and this was shocking coming from a small city with no people living on the street at all.” He decided to see how he could help, so he did what his generation has been taught to do – he Googled!

Up in the list came Street Youth Ministry. Alan enrolled as a volunteer, and the rest, as they say, is history. “He became the rare volunteer who is an essential part of who we are and who we want to be,” said SYM staffer Suzanne Zucca.

Alan immersed himself in the organization. He joined group activities involving clients, and he did routine chores many volunteers do around the Drop-in Center, including scrubbing an occasional toilet. He organized a volunteer appreciation night featuring a Christmas karaoke event, and he got everyone to sing!

Next, he went a step further. Acting on a suggestion from Terry, he founded an organization of UT students called “Friends of Street Youth” that took things to another level.

Friends of Street Youth recently conducted a successful clothing drive, launched a pen pal program to benefit the small number of street youth who are incarcerated, and held a panel discussion on ways UT students can help the ministry.

This didn’t happen all at once. Alan started slowly, and he acknowledged some trepidation. His success serves as encouragement for any volunteer questioning his or her involvement.

“I was a bit shy coming to a place [the Drop-in] where everyone there knew each other, since most of the street youth that drop by are regulars, “he said. He approached cautiously, asking basic questions. “The way the clients lit up every time they spoke completely calmed all my fears. I realized that most of them love to talk to anyone about anything, like most people, although they were much more honest.”

Because they are societal outcasts, he realized, they’re less reluctant to reveal their silly sides when meeting people for the first time. That made it easier for Alan to tear down his own walls and talk with them. “The advice I would give to others starting out is to ask them anything about their lives, since most have amazing stories which they'd love to share if you'd lend an ear.”

Alan noticed something else. “I love seeing how happy they are to receive things we take for granted,” he said, like the day he was handing out pancakes and saw “goofy smiles” coming back at him. “Afterwards … I’d grab a few pancakes and sit by them. I'd return the goofy smiles as they welcomed me, and we'd talk about things that probably didn't matter but made us happy either way. Granted, while the pancakes were great, the best part was how they continued being happy throughout the entirety of our breakfast talk, all of us together, at that one moment.”

By the time Terry approached him, Alan said, “I had gotten to know quite a few street youths and was starting to open up. I wanted to spread everything I knew about their extraordinary talents and stories to the student population.”

He said he especially wanted to eliminate the stigma against street youth around campus, because those he spoke with told him they felt looked down on or simply ignored, and they were hurt by it.

“This hurt me immensely,” he said, “so, I started the org and invited some of my friends to join me. We've only started up last semester, but we have a steady population of about a dozen people and are getting ready to recruit more through summer freshman orientation!”

Alan gets excited as he describes the SYM staff he has become to know so well:

Of the leader: “Terry is amazing at speaking to anyone, no matter who they are, and initiating a meaningful conversation that pierces their hearts. The way he cares about all the youths really shows as he tries to engage others into activities, and he genuinely wants to know about everyone that enters SYM.”

Of Suzanne: “She is probably the drop-in's unofficial mom, what with all of the effort she puts into cooking for the clients and making sure they've got everything they need.”

Of Darvin: “His calm kindness is expressed towards every single person that walks through the door, no matter the situation.”

Of Billy: “His outgoing personality makes volunteers and the street youth feel comfortable and able to open up.”

Of Portia and Tondra: “They are both such hard-workers; both work a lot behind the scenes organizing a lot of the drop-in to have a welcoming environment, which I admire heavily about them.”

The compliments are returned. “He is not afraid to put himself out on a limb in order to help the clients, the staff, or so many volunteers that he has encouraged to get involved with our organization,” Suzanne said. “Alan Martinez is a force of good in the world.”

“Because of his vulnerability about his own challenges, clients have found freedom for themselves through his example. He is relaxed, he is humorous, he is always kind, and always ready to do things he has never done before.”

In-kind donation bonanza!

Clients enjoy an odd donation

Alpaca Market delivers super healthy, locally sourced, organically grown salad bowls, breakfast bowls and more!
 
 Another Client gets a comforter to use in newly found apartment; 

It began with pizza, and grew from there!

Bridge Investment Group, an organization of business executives who give back to the community, recently threw SYM a pizza party! They first planned to drop off the pizza and leave, but they were pleasantly surprised when they met our clients and engaged in meaningful conversation. They spent some time truly getting to know who they were serving, and that bridged a gap between two very different worlds. After they left, our clients were heard commenting about how cool it was for them to do that.

Young Rotarians create 'hygiene kits' for SYM clients

Members of the Rotaract Club, UT's chapter of Rotary International, helped assemble nearly 100 feminine hygiene kits that will be dispersed to SYM clients. The UT students were aided by a donation from the Rotary Club of Historic Brownsville. Rotary and Rotaract pride themselves in "service above self" at home and overseas.

New Community Engagement Person

Meet Tondra, SYM's new Outside
Community Engagement Person

We have an exciting announcement to share. A young woman whose face is familiar to clients and volunteers is transitioning from a client entrepreneur internship to the position of outside community engagement person.

She is Tondra Daily, a former client who is taking increasingly responsible roles at Street Youth Ministry. "Her new job is to build new relationships,” Terry explained, “so if people have never volunteered, Tondra is here to help make it easy for them. She's also building new relationships to churches and businesses. There has never been a better time to engage with SYM!”

“I’m very excited,” Tondra said. “I’m really loving my new role. I like people and am a social butterfly, so it’s a huge blessing that I actually get PAID to get to go out into the community and talk to people about what I love: Street Youth Ministry! I DO love the ministry and know it from the inside out in a very personal way, and I feel uniquely equipped to do this. I myself was a homeless client years ago! I have since given my life to Jesus and discovered who I am in Him.”

Clients enjoy feasting on yummy meal from 'Investment Saturday'

We encourage our clients to come in and invest their time with us on Saturdays, as volunteers prepare a meal and we sit down for a family dinner together -- clients, volunteers and staff. Everyone pitches in to clean up afterward. Our Easter Saturday was particularly festive and effective! .

Fun at SYM

Game night fun!

Since it was started two years ago, Game Night has been a big hit with clients and volunteers alike.

Breakfast taco troupe

Volunteers from Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church thoroughly enjoy themselves as they make food for our freezer.

UT students buy into SYM theory

   An organization of UT students called Friends of Street Youth held a panel discussion last fall to brainstorm ways to help. They included on that panel a recovered SYM client and representatives from other organizations that help street youth.
    The event attracted about 40 students and included a question-and-answer session that lasted two hours, as they sought a deeper understanding and compassion for homeless young adults. The resounding conclusion? Street youth are like college students in many ways, but they have far fewer support resources.
    Newly inspired, the students turned their attention to ways they could help. One project was a clothing drive they held this spring. They put collection boxes in dorms, and more than 100 students donated 355 items with a thrift store value over $1,300. There were tops, bottoms, dresses, jackets, shoes, hats, purses, belts – even a bra.
    We value these and other tangible items like food and toiletries because street youth often come to us first seeking necessities. If we can meet immediate needs, we can encourage follow-up visits, which enable us to begin to build trust and eventually change lives.
    The students’ second project was to form a pen pal club to serve those few clients who become incarcerated. I hesitate to mention this in a newsletter, because so few clients are incarcerated for long. It does happen, though, and the students recognized the value of clients corresponding with people very much like themselves. Many of them already volunteer in our facility, but they wanted something any student could do directly from campus.
    We know from tracking our statistics that 80 percent of clients who engage deeply with us – and that means at least 40 hours of contact and 10 deep conversations with SYM staff – will set and achieve goals that lead to real changes in their lives. That’s about two times more than clients who engage with us less often. We believe so strongly in that dynamic that we update our statistics daily on the front page of our website (streetyouthministry.org).
    We know that our clients are in need, and we are delighted to have lots to share in the way of food and physical things. We also know our clients are short of support, so we want to be their guidance counselors through all the choices they need to make. And we know that most have been deeply hurt along life's journey so far, so we study hard to be agents of change, restoration and healing with our clients.
    This is the SYM way of doing things — our “theory of change” — and we are delighted that the UT students have learned this lesson.

I AM GRATEFUL...

I am grateful for the shape of my life. I am grateful for the ways that I am gifted. And even though I am often jealous of other people‘s gifting, I am glad to be me. I am grateful that I have found a vocation that is just right for me. 

It combined so many things that I love: solving problems, teaching, learning new things, trying new things, helping others, relating to the outcast, orchestrating an amazing machine with lots of moving parts, crossing cultural barriers, and sharing good news for a better world.

I am grateful for the people I journey with. I love my family of origin. I love the legacy they have given me. I love the family that I created with my wife. I look forward to the possibility of loving families created by my children. I love the community that I have created In my various workplaces. I love the community that is being formed in the ministry to homeless young adults. I’m grateful for my church family—groups that form For worship, discipleship, service, morning, celebration, and discernment. Each is unique and a blessing.

I am grateful for money, but I am more grateful to be freed from its enslavement on my life. I think it no small chance that God changed me from being employed to create wealth to being called to serve others without wealth, Without the possibility of company ownership, and without further amassing personal wealth. I am truly glad to be dependent. I always was, but it is a blessing to see the literal dependency on the gifts of others to follow my vocation. I am not creating a company that I own. I am not creating a profit. I am not being paid what I am “worth“ by trade or training. I am supported by the gifts of others who have come to understand my calling and want me to pursue it. God‘s blessing in my life is bigger, but is hard to name and earthly blessing larger than the support of so many people for my vocation.

As unexpected as the blessing of support has been, probably the most surprising blessing has come from including 5000 or more homeless broken and simultaneously amazing young adults in my life. They are so interesting. They are so strong. They are so diverse. It is not the reward of serving them but simply the reward of being with them that is such a blessing. The things they have taught me. The things they have made me think about. The glimpses of life that I can never fully understand but that I could also never experience myself. They have added a richness to my life that was completely unexpected. The blessings dwarfs any gratitude for accomplishment Or even growth that could come from serving.

I cannot write about gratitude without mentioning my sweet and amazing loyal companion, Rosie. That God would create a relationship between a man and a beast of such depth boggles the mind. Truly do know the love of a dog is to learn something of the unconditional love that God has for us.

I am grateful for the rhythms of life. For day and night. I used to bemoan that there wasn’t enough time in the day until someone pointed out that it was beyond arrogance To force everyone else to endure another hour just because I felt like I didn’t get enough done. I am grateful for the rhythm of a week. Often it feels as if Monday through Saturday is some type of marathon. But somehow I cross the finish line into Sunday and into worship.

There I am refreshed and rejuvenated and somehow ready to run into the next week. I am grateful for the rhythm of the seasons. I try to enjoy the cold of a cold day, the heat of a hot day, and everything in between. They are exactly as created and I was created to experience and indeed live in them. And I enjoy the rhythm of the calendar. Birthdays passing. Holidays celebrated. I have come to see the wisdom in the ecclesiastic calendar. The beginning of the year without vent. The celebration of Christmas. Preparation for Easter. A risen Lord. Pentecost. Life with the spirit. It all feels right. 

Finally I am grateful for perspective. Whether it’s focusing on tiny things or stepping back to see the big picture. Whether it’s looking externally or looking inwardly. Whether it’s looking to the physical world or into the spiritual realm. There is an order And a beauty and a wholeness. It is good. But the fact that I can twist any of it for my evil purposes keeps me humble and grateful for forgiveness. Jesus loved me first. He was willing to give up even Godhood to save me. And heal me. And restore me. This is why I believe. This is why I behave – at least to the extent that I manage to behave. This is why I follow. And this is why I serve.