No Pranks Here; Only Blessings Raining Down!

Supplies ready for clients dropping by

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are not able to operate the Drop-in the same way as before. But, we have adopted. Our 'drop-by team' receives clients outside our gates with a smile, with a meal, usually hot, and with supplies. We are trying to fill the gap created by temporarily disappearing services, so we are doing things like food bags and toilet paper. The 'drop-by team' chats with clients outside (observing social distance) about life and challenges ... hope and hardship in these coronavirus times. They also help drop-by volunteers unload supplies. Meanwhile, our "home team" works the phones, seeking resources.

Donation from One Chapel

Wonderful members of One Chapel stay true to their church's belief that "our faith is practical and our lives are meant to be lived in service to others" as they deliver in-kind donations for SYMin distribution outside the Drop-in Center.

Great News for Clients and Donors 2020!

Highlights!

• Art Group was re-invigorated by staff. It's a healthy way to heal!
• San Marcos going well. We always meet several youth there. It seems they have no other source of guidance counseling in their lives, so it has high impact even if the time expenditure is costly for us. Terry has hired an intern to assist.
• New location needed in Austin. We aren’t looking right now, but we are seeking a group of people who can begin to meet, pray, collect our requirements and formulate some ideas.
• Beginning to use our upstairs location!  Girls Group is meeting there, and we are setting up a dedicated art room, group room, and media room for interviews.
• The Client “volunteer hour” store is drawing vigorous business, re-engaging our clients in the notion of working, saving, and spending carefully. Van's shoes, donated laptops and tablets, bus passes, and sodas are very popular. Oft-requested items we don't have are portable phone batteries. We record the hours they work helping us with chores, and they get to spend their pay in our store at $8/hour.

 

Clients just love Talent Night!

We continue to be astounded at Talent Night and how healthy self-expression leads to healing and recovery. After Terry shared recently about a friend who passed away and how he wants to tell his young son one day about his father (to the sounds of "Amazing Grace") as his “talent,” the clients broke into a series of worship songs and shared their stories, hopes and dreams.

SYM expands southward!

We held our first event recently in San Marcos! We are in awe of how God has moved. Two street friends from Austin who are now in San Marcos helped introduce us to five other young adults, and we had a prayer concert! Amazing Grace! And the photo (above) includes a local volunteer as well! God is so good!

Happy about his new bike!

SYM client Jerameel celebrates (with Rosie, our mascot) earning a newly reconditioned bicycle from the Yellow Bike Project. He completed more than 20 volunteer hours helping around the Drop-in Center. Yellow Bike Project is a volunteer-powered initiative to put bicycles on the streets of Austin and Central Texas by operating community bike shops, teaching bike mechanics and maintenance, and acting as a local bike advocacy group.

Fund raising

Our end-of-year
fund-raising goal
is $83,801. You
can help us reach it!

Trusted. Inspiring. Empowering. Fresh.

These are the words that describe us. By giving now, you will keep these services going as planned. This goal was calculated carefully from what we will have spent on services from January to now in 2018! In addition, we are seeking $25,000 to begin our San Antonio pilot operations in 2019.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE

Have any treasures in your 'lost & found'?

Jennifer at Covenant Presbyterian displays a t-shirt that arrived in the lost-and-found; after a suitable period if it is not claimed, she'll donate it to SYM. We'd like our other church and ministry partners to do the same. Our pledge is to find homes for the times. If a staff member lives near you, we will be happy to arrange pickup. Otherwise, we ask that you find a volunteer who might bring them to our Drop-in.

CONTACT US WITH LOST AND FOUND ITEMS

Happy Easter

A special Easter message from Street Youth Ministry!

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Thank you for making this possible!

We were gathered for prayer time in what had been a slow day when Will walked in, bypassing the couches and heading straight to the kitchen. He didn't look up or say hello. We prayed on, inviting clients to respond to questions like "God is what? I am grateful for what? I feel closer to God when?" It's part of how we help our spiritual — but not terribly religious — young adults begin to reconnect with God. The answers aren't always "nice," but they come from the heart -- maybe the gut. We repeat and honor each and every one without judgment. After the young man filled his plate, he sat a lunch table, still apart from our prayer group, still avoiding eye contact. I was leading the prayer concert, so I invited Will to answer one of our questions. He didn’t respond, but he did look up. I could see something different in his eyes — perhaps he was high, perhaps he was in trouble. Without a response, I couldn't tell. I continued with those assembled, asking, "What do you want God to do next in your life?" Suddenly, Will blurted: “I want him to leave me alone!" Then he corrected himself: "No, I don't really want that..." We've known Will for quite a while. He's one of those "difficult youth." Honestly, the sight of him coming in the door in early 2016 meant my staff had to re-deploy resources to handle him. We had to ask him to leave many times because he just couldn't behave safely. Lately, he's been doing great — reconciled with his father, held a job for a while, begun to realize he can't keep doing what he's been doing. Will began to tell his story: "I was at Church Under the Bridge Sunday. I wanted to eat. They started preaching and singing, and I just started crying. I don't know why. I couldn't stop. I tried, but I couldn't. Some people noticed and they came over. They wanted to pray with me. I told them no. But I wanted it, I just didn't want to put my stuff out there in front of everyone. So I'm here..." Having broken the ice, Will began to participate and share answers. He walked over and joined the group. The clients shared what they want God to do in their lives, talked about friends and family, and lifted up our neighborhood and the city of Austin in prayer. When we finished, I asked Will if this had been good. He said “Yes.” I asked if he understood what happened to him the previous Sunday. He responded without hesitation: "It was the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is moving within me. I don't know exactly what to do, but I know that's what it is. Something is changing." That's where we left it. Will has a difficult struggle ahead. But we continue to organize our ministry life so we can be there for him, on his best days or his worst. It's a pattern we see all the time. It takes years, but these awesome people recover their identities in God, in Christ, and in the world. It's a privilege to behold. Thank you for making it possible! Terry Cole

‘I don’t make  the bad choices  I used to!’ John John was a very difficult client in 2015 — always getting into fights, frequently high and belligerent. We had to exclude him from service several times. He was banned or excluded from service for longer periods of time at other places. John John left home right after high school and got involved with organized trouble immediately. Now, however, he's sober, working and housed. "I have almost a whole paycheck saved,” he said recently. “That's more than I've ever saved in my life. And now when tough things happen, I don't make the bad choices I used to. I'm growing up and have learned to cope better. Thank you so much for sticking with me!" We now are talking about John John's future and what path to learning and growth he wants to take. We are proud of John John!

A bonanza of 'swag'!  Volunteers from the local sales staff of Salesforce.com donated "swag" left over from trade shows and events. They shipped it from California, assembled it into gift sets and delivered them to three organizations, including hundreds of backpacks and blankets to SYM!

Christmas 2015 Slideshow For Fundraiser

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Flash Fundraiser! 

Our current donation stands at $1,425.

Our goal is to reach $4,180. 

You can still donate here. 

The video below shows much joy during the 2014 Christmas Party.

Ebay And Street Youth Ministry of Austin

Favorite us on Ebay.

A Cigar Box Guitar

Amazing cigar box guitar made by a homeless young client!

We are raising funds for music supplies.

Click to give what you are able to donate.

 Thank you!

Clients Enjoy Art Supplies

Here is more art created by our clients.

Donating just $5 will help us buy more art supplies so clients can continue to create art.

Thank you!

Art Supplies Spurs Creativity

If you can, please donate $5 to help buy art supplies for our clients; they can keep expressing themselves.

Click here.

Amplify Austin Ends Today March 6, 2015 At 6 PM

Amplify Austin is a 24-hour giving day from 6pm Thursday, March 5, to 6pm Friday, March 6, 2015. Go to AmplifyATX. You can click the donate button and create a cart for payment once you're ready.

Donations this year for SYM will go to fund a one-on-one mentor evening. We have long wanted to offer this event, but now we believe we have sufficient interest from clients, volunteers, and have gained experience to guide it successfully.

Volunteers willing to meet at least twice a month will be paired with clients who want to do the same. They will engage in a mentoring time. Clients will choose a topic for mentoring from:

• discipleship, 
• small group leadership, 
• academic subject mentoring for GED, 
• high school or college, 
• planning and goal setting, or 
• a hobby to share and learn.

By providing a regular venue and time, we will provide a healthy structure for volunteers to know, love, and serve our clients as they work to better themselves. In addition, we will use a portion of the supplies to fund a self-expression newspaper. Clients will be invited to contribute drawing, poetry, or stories. The publication will be produced periodically and offered as an insert in the Challenger Newspaper, online, and by clients themselves.

On Your Mark, Get Ready, Set...6 PM March 5, 2015

Street Youth Ministry will participate in our second Amplify Austin city-wide 24-hour philanthropy campaign in March. Our goal is to use the Austin campaign to publicize our cause and work.

This will allow potential donors who don’t already know about us to learn more, gain interest, and donate. This is a great way to endorse the ministry that you already support with your donations.

If you'd be interested in pledging to help match new donations, please contact us. Last year 36 donors participated through Amplify Austin.

Current information can be found here.

Souper Bowl Food for Homeless Street Youth 2015

The big NFL championship has been associated with helping food pantries across this country for some years. Join our fun by donating to help provide great meals for our clients and leave a message indicating which team you want to win Sunday! We’ll keep score and see if your results predict the big outcome! Your donation will fund extras for our lunches over Bible study, prayer circles and check-ins on the street with the 100 individuals we serve weekly. 

Our wonderful volunteers already provide vegetable soup, roasted vegetables and bare sandwiches weekly, so your donations will elevate our meal above the basics:

• drink flavorings to add a little fun to water,
• condiments to customize a special sandwich,
• stew meat for the soup pot,
• packaged chips for when we’re offering to-go lunches outside.

We also use these funds to purchase supplies for sandwiches when one of our fabulous volunteers isn't available or when a volunteer wants to help but cost is an issue for them.

For every donation of $5, we can brighten a week of water with drink flavorings. $25 buys individual chip packages for a month of street lunch. $50 purchases lunch meat and cheese for a week of sandwiches.
 

 
 
Street Youth Ministry serves about 100 street youth every week and meets about 350 new clients every year. We provide safe places to obtain basic needs and engage our clients wherever they are in their journey. Together we explore relevant issues including family, physical and mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and life goals. We are faith-based but open to all.  

Half our clients are between 17 and 25; all are homeless. We also provide textbooks for those who go on to college, and we have many doing so! You may learn much more about us by visiting www.StreetYouthMinistry.org.

Quick Update 1/9/2015

This week, SYM served 38 people with hot chocolate, hot broth, blankets, sweaters, and sleeping bags.

Unfortunately, we're completely out of coats and gloves. 

Read about our Cold Weather Response here.

Cooking It Up

We hold our very popular Cooking It Up event every summer on Wednesdays! A group or family selects a favorite meal, shops for the ingredients for 12 plus yourselves, and works with our clients to prepare the meal. Everyone works together, eats together and shares a great fellowship time! Some popular meals from the past two summers have included: breakfast, sushi, and pulled pork, but you can use your imagination! You'll bring drinks and food supplies. 2202 Nueces - Austin, TX 78705 http://www.streetyouthministry.org/join-us/cookin-it-up