Street Youth Ministry Uses Art to Reframe Conversation on Homelessness

Reposting an article from Reporting Texas published on December 19, 2019

Street Youth Ministry 

Uses Art to Reframe

Conversation on Homelessness

By NATALEAH SMALL

Reporting Texas

A collection of purple, orange and green stones appeared in front of the Congregational Church of Austin in early October. The stones were decorated to resemble pumpkins, and some were painted with words of affirmation such as “love” and “pride.”

A prayer garden made of painted rocks marks the entrance to the Street Youth Ministry’s facility in the basement of the Congregational Church on 23rd Street in Austin, Texas. The rocks are a way for the ministry to draw attention to the positive impact of its mission. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

Throughout November and December, more art popped up: a face and scarf on the tree in front of the church, colorful chalk art messages on the sidewalk and hearts and peace symbols stenciled on planter pots.

The group responsible for the guerilla art was Street Youth Ministry, which wanted to draw attention to the ministry and positively impact the thousands of people who pass the building every day, said Terry Cole, the ministry’s founder. He said the ministry began creating the installations after the Austin City Council lifted a camping ban and made other changes in the city’s approach to homelessness, which sparked contentious debate.

An art installation created by Street Youth Ministry clients showcases their desire to send a positive message to the community. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

“We really just wanted to say to the neighborhood: ‘We love you, and we want to be kind to you as well,’” said Suzanne Zucca, Street Youth Ministry staff member.

Nestled in the heart of West Campus, Street Youth Ministry is located in the basement of the Congregational Church of Austin. The faith-based ministry is a day center that assists young people experiencing homelessness. Staffers refer to them as clients.

Volunteers of Street Youth Ministry set up arts and crafts for clients to make nativity scenes and angels. The program offers  practical things like clothing, counseling and food, but its goal is “to know, love and serve street-dependent youth so they might come to know Christ,” according to its annual report. Alexander Thompson/Reporting Texas

According to its mission statement, the goal of the ministry is “to know, love and serve street-dependent youth so they might come to know Christ through the witnessing community we develop.” According to the ministry’s 2018 annual report, it provides clients with “practical things to help meet immediate needs.” Cole said the ministry is not an overnight facility.

Volunteers, such as Lorena Garza, a UT-Austin social work freshman, play a crucial role in the ministry by cleaning and organizing the basement of the Congregational Church, where the program is housed. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

The ministry offers a variety of services: access to food, counseling, clothing and gear such as bicycles and sleeping bags. Founded in 2008, the ministry serves about 600 clients up to 28 years old every year.

According GuideStar, a service that reports on U.S. non-profits, the ministry reported $492,267 in gross receipts during its most recent fiscal year. According to the ministry’s 2018 year-end report, 45% of its income is from private individuals and 30% is from in-kind giving. Additional funding comes from grants, churches and other sources. According to the report, 94% of every dollar spent by the ministry goes toward program services with the remaining 6% allotted to administration and fundraising.

Cole said the ministry employs eight staffers as guidance counselors and resources on matters related to drugs, physical and mental health and safe sex practices.

Street Youth Ministry volunteer Lorena Garza, left, plays dominoes with Deon Watts, right, and another client of the Street Youth Ministry during a weekly game night on Nov. 19, 2019.  Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

The team is trained to handle difficult situations and deal with people in crisis, but Cole said team members are not doctors, social workers or licensed therapists. Nearly 1,000 individuals volunteer with the ministry every year, Cole said.

Patrick Hudson, left, removes a block from a giant Jenga set while volunteering at the Street Youth Ministry’s weekly game night with other UT-Austin students Shad Khan, center, and Nuvia Cruz. The ministry’s proximity to the University allows students to accumulate volunteer hours for class and service organizations. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

Austin’s homeless population has remained relatively steady since the ministry began its work.

According to the Point In Time Count compiled annually by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, 2,087 people were counted in 2010. The lowest recorded number, 1,832, occurred in 2015. In 2019, the number of individuals increased to 2,255; 50% were between the ages of 18-44.

According to ECHO, the leading factors contributing to homelessness include inadequate access to health care, lack of engagement in school or employment and time spent in juvenile detention or jail.

Two members visit the Street Youth Ministry basement to have a meal and fill out paperwork on Dec 3, 2019. The ministry opens everyday at 12 p.m. and provides a safe space for people 28 years old and younger. Alexander Thompson/Reporting Texas

In July, when the city passed an ordinance that decriminalized sitting, lying and camping in public places, people who had been sleeping in the woods and other unsafe areas started sleeping on the streets, Cole said. A population that had been hidden became more visible.

In reaction to the heightened visibility, Gov. Greg Abbott retweeted a video of a man attacking a car in downtown Austin. It was later revealed that the video was over a year old and the person recorded was not experiencing homelessness. Cole said the misleading post had a negative impact on public perception of homeless people and a “scarring” effect on the city.

A sign posted at the 23rd street Artist’s Market notifies visitors that the Street Youth Ministry cleans the area. The ministry’s staff hope the message will counter some negative perceptions of people experiencing homelessness. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

The idea for the art installation emerged amid this conversation. Cole said he wanted people walking by their building to notice a positive change and reflect on how the ministry is serving its clients.

Two clients who worked on the installation agreed to talk to Reporting Texas but declined to give their full names.

Red said she painted a rock that resembles a “golden ghost” the day she was taken to jail for having too many unpaid tickets. By the time she got out of jail, other clients had added the face to the tree in front of the building.

Red, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, laughs as her friend pulls out a bullhorn while they sit near the entrance of the Street Youth Ministry basement on Dec 3, 2019. Alexander Thompson/Reporting Texas

Red, 28, said she has traveled through Austin six times over the past decade. A friend introduced her to the ministry three years ago, and since then she has utilized its services.

She participates in Girl’s Group, a peer support group that discusses topics such as toxic relationships and the difficulties that face women who live on the streets. If she hadn’t heard about the ministry, Red said, she would have died in Austin because she knew few people and didn’t know where to stay.

“I feel like we have a family, and that’s rare around here,” Red said. “Like we have our street family, but you can’t talk to your street family about certain things, you know, you’ve got to stay within the mindset of ‘I can survive.’”

Arthur also helped create the installation. He created a collection of rocks painted with single words of prayer like “love,” “pride,” and “joy.”

Halloween-themed prayer rocks that youth ministry client, Arthur, helped create, decorate the base of a tree outside the entrance to the Street Youth Ministry. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

Arthur, 27, said he came to Austin four years ago with his former husband. When they divorced, he ended up on the streets. He said his “blood sister” told him Street Youth Ministry could help him, but he didn’t know if he would be accepted because of his sexual orientation. In other places he said he has felt out of place and unwelcome.

Street Youth Ministry client Arthur, whose nickname is Summer Rose, sings Carrie Underwood’s, “Jesus, Take The Wheel,” during the weekly talent night on Nov. 20, 2019. Arthur, said the ministry has come to feel like a family to him. Joshua Guenther/Reporting Texas

Earlier this year, he said he was diagnosed with stage four brain cancer. Since the diagnosis, members of the ministry have prayed for him, Arthur said, and in return he has volunteered to prepare food, wash dishes and clean the space.

“It feels like I’m back at home with my own family,” Arthur said. “There’s no other place I would rather be than here. I don’t want to separate from the people that have taken care of me.”

Read it on Reporting Texas here

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.

Report: State should form task force to tackle youth homelessness

By Steffi Lee

Published: November 16, 2017, 6:50 pm  Updated: November 16, 2017, 6:59 pm

AUSTIN (KXAN) – A new report about youth homelessness in Texas highlights a need for comprehensive policies and a funding stream to address the ongoing issue.

Texas Appleseed partnered with Texas Network of Youth Services (TNOYS) and conducted more than 100 interviews with youth who had experienced or are experiencing homelessness in Texas. Both groups also pulled data from state agencies related to youth.

Clair Cole, 19, became homeless when she was 16. “I had a lot of struggles connecting with family especially in that time of my life,” she said. “I was going through a lot. They were going through a lot.”

Cole relied on couch surfing to find places to stay. But as time passed, it became harder. “[I was] feeling like I was a burden, a lot of just trying to sink into the background and just be there without being there,” she said.

She’s now 19, received her GED and has her own small business making jewelry. She also serves as a Lifeworks Youth Ambassador in Austin, raising awareness about what services are available under their provider program.

“I would never want anyone to experience the feeling of not feeling welcome in your own home,” she said.

Lifeworks says each evening it shelters or houses more than 140 youth. There’s also a counseling division for individuals and families who deal with abuse, trauma, anxiety or other stressors.

“If I had known there was an emergency shelter, I would’ve gone straight there,” she said.

The report by Texas Appleseed and TNOYS says each year, at least 1,000 students who have dealt with homelessness repeat a grade and 1,400 drop out. It also says youth in foster care are in high risk of becoming homeless. In 2016, a total of 1,250 youth aged out of foster care on their 18th birthday. In that same year, more than 1,000 children in Texas ran away from a foster care placement.

Gabriella McDonald, the pro bono and new projects director for Texas Appleseed, said schools are on the front lines of this issue, but too often, it’s hard to track.

“Sometimes, schools don’t find out they have youth who [are] experiencing homelessness until they have someone who is about to graduate and it’s time to pay for their cap and gown,” McDonald said.

Both organizations have recommended that Texas form a statewide task force led by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and the Department of Housing and Community Affairs. They also want lawmakers to form a dedicated funding source to support prevention and intervention services for at-risk and homeless youth.

“There’s state funding for youth, there’s state funding for homelessness, but there’s not state funding for youth who are homeless,” McDonald said.

Terry Cole runs Street Youth Ministry. The organization holds several relationship-building events, focused around art, guidance counseling and teamwork.

“We meet them where they are,” he said. He said too often youth who face homelessness are stigmatized and viewed differently.

New Space for Street Youth Along Guadalupe to Open in January - By KATE GROETZINGER

Missionary & Founder of Street Youth Ministry Terry Cole speaks with local area youth in the hall of the Congregational Church.

In a room at the Austin Congregational Church, Terry Cole talks with 10 young adults. They’ve come to see Cole, but also to eat. 

When  Cole was laid off of his job as an engineer in 2008, he decided to dedicate his life to rehabilitating young people living on the street around UT. By his account, homeless youth have called the West Campus neighborhood near Guadalupe Street known as "the Drag" home since at least the 1970s.

Every Tuesday, Cole holds court at the Congregational Church, where he invites young homeless people from 18 to 30 years old to come eat. His organization, Street Youth Ministry, serves homeless youth through events held in churches around UT.

According to Cole, the youth he serves have always been drawn to the neighborhood around the university for the same reason other young people are.

“Young people like to hang out with young people. That’s just a universal fact,” Cole said. “They are separating from parents and they want to hang out with each other, and the center of young people in Austin is undeniably the 40 Acres.”

Jerome Ray, a client of Street Youth Ministry, is one of these young people. He says he likes to hang out with students at the residential co-ops in the neighborhood. But, when he hits the drag, he is treated differently than the students he befriends.

“Two weeks ago I went into Medici Café,” Ray said. “And, when I walked in the guy was like, ‘Hey, you need to buy something.’ And I was like, ‘Do you talk like that to all your customers, or is it just because my pants are dirty? It’s just because my pants are dirty, huh?’”

Cole says the police also treat homeless youth differently. Ever since the murder of UT student Haruka Weiser by a young homeless person last spring, Cole says the neighborhood has been hostile toward his clients, as well as his ministry. 

Cole speaks with two clients at Congregational Church.

“Around the first of March in 2016, the West Campus neighborhood united in a very solid message that said, ‘We are getting rid of homeless young people’” he said. “It was actually prior to the murder.”

Cole says he’s seen the number of homeless youth in the neighborhood decrease by half of what it was in 2015, when it spiked due to people in the area making and using the drug K2 on the street.

“The community has demanded the presence of the police, and it has without question improved the safety on the street. Unless you’re a young homeless person looking for services, then they feel pretty unsafe right now,” Cole said.

Cole is focused on rebuilding trust between homeless youth and the West Campus community. He encouraged his clients to come up with a way to give back to the neighborhood, and they decided to “own” the alley behind AT&T and Jamba Juice on the drag.

“And by ‘own’ they mean they want to document its deplorable condition and make it better,” he said. “And they want to go to business owners and say, ‘Look, we’re doing this and we’re going to keep doing this. We’re part of your neighborhood, and we’re not all bad.’”

Street Youth Ministry will move into its first brick and mortar location at the corner of San Antonio and 23rd Street in January. The space is currently a drop-in clinic for homeless youth operated by LifeWorks, which lost funding for the space this year.

“There are seven rooms in the space, and I’m partnering with different organizations – mostly churches, but they don’t have to be – to outfit the rooms with supplies for creative self expression, like music and art, and meditation. I think it will become a destination for homeless youth in the neighborhood.”

Cole’s work with homeless youth goes beyond what he calls the “core services” provided by the LifeWorks clinic – some of which Street Youth Ministry will continue to provide when they move into the location. Cole specializes in what he calls “relationship services”, working with his clients to help them achieve stability and get off the streets permanently.

“I think it’s just really important that people realize there’s a positive outcome here,” he said. “They don’t become career homeless people, and it’s why they need special help, and it’s why we’re here.”

Ultimately, Cole hopes to change the perception of street youth around UT. He says that the majority of the youth he works with get off the street within a year and half of deciding to do so.

To read the original article please click here. http://kut.org/post/new-space-street-youth-along-guadalupe-open-january

SYM donors do all of this -- and more!

Your funds do all of this -- and more!

As we pass mid-2016, we believe we are in a strong position to continue helping street-dependent youth in Austin find more stability, sobriety, re-connection with God and a faith home. We do that by working with the West Campus neighborhood, churches, partners and volunteers, with whom we are so richly blessed.

These recent quotes will let you know whether it works or not:

A man who was addicted to meth and homeless just a year ago sent me a text. He attended a wide variety of our events, and now we keep in touch mainly by electronic means: "Terry, everything's going okay. I'm truly following Christ. Every step I have taken has been revealed. I see when I turn to wants it becomes a struggle, but when I keep my focus on Christ nothing is a struggle."

Or a note from someone served only briefly in November and December 2013 who wrote to say: "You probably won't remember me. I hung around for a little while in 2012-2013. I remember speaking to you multiple times ... . I don't know how many success stories you hear, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't done dope in 2 1/2 years, and I just bought my own house in a suburb of Kansas City. I've been in and around churches for most of my life, and the single greatest gift I have been given was a hot meal, a fresh pair of socks, and a safe place to sleep for a few hours. Unlike a lot of places, at my worst you guys never turned me away. Christmas was the best taco dinner I've ever had. So thanks. Anyway, if you don't remember me that doesn't hurt my feelings. I remember you and the rest of the staff and how much the simple things y'all did for me helped. It made me feel like an actual person."

Or a comment from a client still on the street at today's Cookin' It Up event: "I've been sober only three days now, but one day I'm going to help people like you do. I'm going to stay sober because I have a baby on the way in November. This Christmas is going to be special. I'll have a new son or daughter. I'm really grateful there are people like you and your team."

SYM donors do all of this and more. If we could color what their funds do with a bright green SYM dye, you could see swatches of color painted all over Austin, Texas, and even across the country from the eight years we have been in "business" and into the next decade as former clients influence others with what they have learned and received at SYM. Again... thank you!

Generating Excitement

SYM recently was invited to "table" at a Christian ministry fair for incoming freshmen at the University of Texas. We did this last year and it was pretty successful. We did get one or two new volunteers from the effort. This year I set goals of (a) not doing this alone, (b) giving out at least 50 brochures, and obtaining at least 25 emails on our iPAD of people who'd like to be reminded with more information once school starts.

I asked the president of our new student organization at UT, Friends of Street Youth, to help me find a volunteer to do. And I asked a regular volunteer to go around at one of our fellowship events for clients and find two clients willing to help out with the event. So with a couple of people to go with me, a schedule and a plan for the tabling event, we set off.

We quickly setup the table. It looked great. By using an iPAD, we kept things simple. We had a few photos of UT students interacting with clients at events and a call to action: Please share your email address on your iPAD or text it to us to get more information.

There were 200 students at Ignite. They came into the fair in three groups. My volunteers went to work. It was awesome! They did such a great job of quickly explaining what we do and then asking if the student would like to get involved.

I listened to a client tell it this way: "We help 60 to 80 street kids on the edge of UT campus every week. We help them with food, clothing, prayer, Bible study and such." He would stop to let the student ask for me or say something. "Sounds cool. What do I do?" He would continue, "We need your help with events every day. You just hang out with street youth. It really works. This is me in the picture. And now I'm going to start college on August 23!"

We gave out 139 brochures, far surpassing my goal. And we collected email addresses from 54 freshmen who want to know more about SYM! But the best part came later.

Since I didn't really have any role at the fair outside of planning and getting the people there, I walked around. I found a group of students bunched together at the end of one of "groups." One girl was very animated and excited. I could see she had a SYM flyer in her hand. She was telling all her small group how exciting SYM was and how cool it was to see a life transformed. She couldn't wait to volunteer. I offered the whole group flyers and they all took them. Now that's excitement!

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