What's ahead!

To address the clothing crisis, we are talking to a local laundry to provide a service to replace doing the laundry at the Drop-in temporarily. It will increase our costs, but clients need to feel clean and put together.

   We know that a financial crisis is coming. Almost all our clients lost their jobs when the city was shut down, and bills are coming due. We don't provide direct emergency financial support, but we are looking for organizations that can. We also have been encouraging job searches. Lots of people are hiring.

   We also expect a wave of evictions in June or so. Many clients have had their bills deferred, but we don't expect such bills to be forgiven. Many will lack resources to catch up. We'll be ready with guidance about how to bounce back from eviction if it does occur. We also plan to launch learn-and-earn to help our clients get more financially literate and re-enter the job market.

    We are concerned that our clients may become COVID-infected once the "lockdown" in Austin is ended. Our clients have not proven they can reliably observe social distance -- just as most young people have not. If one client gets the virus, the rest are likely to get it in clusters. While we will pray the impact is minor for most, we know some who will likely be compromised. The worst is yet to come and, unfortunately, their exposure will require they be quarantined from our services. For this reason, we are taking a cautious approach to re-opening of our Drop-in Center.

   Finally, we know from the 2008 financial meltdown that events like our unemployment situation impact the rate at which we see future clients. We anticipate that 2021 will see a surge in clients because of many factors. Some will be from families that experienced increased economic turmoil in 2020. Some college students will be forced to drop out of college and some will experience homelessness. But we'll be here with proven resources and guidance to help them recover and find their way.

The COVID-19 Challenge: Beating the virus ... 'SYMin style'!

        

1. We remodeled, innovated

   The shelter-in-place rules that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic placed a heavy immediate burden on most of our clients and sent our staff scrambling to adapt to restrictions and find novel ways of fulfilling our mission.
   Forced to close the Drop-in Center to events for clients and faced with a scrambled situation for locating resources, we split our staff into two teams:
   -- Our “home team” worked by phone, text and social media to locate resources and reach out to clients to listen, reassure and present informed options.
   -- Our “drop-by team,” worked at the center, taking in donations and serving clients through the gate outside with meals, essential supplies and counseling -- all the while observing proper social distance.
   -- We also produced a video showing clients how to obtain and use the stimulus checks for which many were eligible.
   -- We moved our live events on-line and added a few new ones, using Zoom and Facebook Live. They include Bible Study, Prayer Time, Friday Devotional, Peer Support, Zoom Game Night and Rave Movie Night.

2. Client numbers are up!

   When we wrote our pandemic plan in February, we had no idea we would implement it so quickly nor how important it would be to our clients. Most of our clients have been successful with sheltering in place, either at apartments provided through transitional support services, apartments they were paying for themselves, couch surfing, or in make-shift camps that are remote.
   Unfortunately, a few of our clients are not able to do this and we see a core set of them almost every day; many of these are in great need of specialized assistance from organizations that are no longer able to serve them in the pandemic.
   The statistics reflect this surge:
   -- In March we had 111 electronic check-ins with clients. In April we've already had 207! On any given day recently, about half our contacts are not in person, and we've seeing more people many days than pre-COVID 19.
   -- In March we served 136 people compared to 132 in 2019 and 116 in 2018. And we're already at 129 for April. In the last 30 days, we've connected with 150 people, nearly 50% of the 310 people we've served in the past six months.
   It's been a monumental task and our staff has been wonderful!

Above, 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. Below, a client checks his bags of food passed to him through the gate at our Drop-in Center, closed to groups temporarily by Austin shelter-in-place rules. 

3. The crisis came in waves!

   Based on our experience weathering the 2008 financial crisis, we were able to predict how the pandemic would impact our clients in waves, so we prioritized our response that way, too. Here is the sequence:
   Food insecurity -- Our generous volunteers, in-kind donors and church partners responded to our need to shift from a buffet style service to one that relied completely on non-perishable food bags and meals prepared to-go. We received 5,220 food donations in March -- almost all from individual donors rather than our previous corporate food sources – and already 2,550 in April. Our March response was crucial because almost no food pantries or meals were open initially.
   Clothing -- We've had to redo all our clothing stores so we can hand pick clothing by size for our clients and take it to them outside. We post our needs daily and amazing donors keep cleaning out closets and supplying us.
   Mental Health – This came almost immediately. Clients are bored. They don't often make great choices. Depression, anger and frustration have run rampant. We've made ourselves more available by phone and text. One staff member even works "graveyard" shifts when clients are most likely to have anxiety attacks. We've given out art supplies, craft kits, books and playing cards.
   Health care – This surprised us! Our clients are no more symptomatic than normal. We believe they have been relatively isolated. On the other hand, clients cannon obtain dental or medical care as they normally would, because the health care system is dedicated to coronavirus response.

We will gain strength in these trying times!

So much has changed since a year ago.
   As recently as a month ago, I could have written you about an amazing staff at SYMin. I could have written about gracious homeless young adults, so appreciative of the ways we are helping them. I could have written about donors who have sent special gifts and ordered or driven by food and supplies to help us respond to the COVID-19 emergencies in the lives of our clients. Instead, I want to take you back just 10 days.
   Social distancing was still new, and not everyone was observing it. The lockdown was still voluntary, but we at SYMin had already split ourselves into a “home team” and “drop-by team.” The home team was answering questions by phone and messaging. A slimmed down drop-by team inside our facility was busy for a second day serving clients in a new way outdoors.
   It was noon on a pretty spring day and we were opening up to pass our clients plates of food through the gate. We planned afterward to meet and discuss how to respond to other client needs.It was at that moment I saw something that captured my attention.
    A young man, I’ll call him Joey, was sitting against the wall, half-naked, dirty, scraped up and wearing a hospital band on his wrist. I walked outside to within six feet of him and asked, “What’s up?” I've known him for a while, but something was terribly different now.
   The whole team knows Joey. He's a sweet kid. He loves to sing and dance, and he's very good at both. And he loves meth -- loves the high and the exhilaration it produces. Occasionally, he falls out of love with drugs, but those times are rare. For several months he had been telling me, "I'm OK. I'm happy with my drug use. Don't assume I can't handle things. I’m fine." I just agreed in the moments he asserted himself so strongly, focusing instead on how we could help.

Looking at him now, I wondered what had happened. So skinny. So dirty. So scratched up. His expression told me something had changed. I just asked, "What has happened?" Joey spoke, but not really as a reply, "I know something now. God wants me alive. He saved me last night!" I agreed that God wants him alive and asked if he needed anything. He asked for food, so I walked inside the Drop-in, fetched him some, and returned.
   I sat down, again keeping my distance, to learn more. Where were his clothes, and why the hospital bracelet? "Oh, I was in the hospital because I took too much drugs and freaked out last night,” he explained. “I got hurt. I just got out of the hospital with nothing but a gown this morning. I walked all over and found these clothes on the street.  These are gross. I need clothes." So, I walked back inside the Drop-in, found him some, and resumed my perch to pick up the conversation.
   "I have to stop using drugs,” he said. “I have to get housing. I can't keep living the way I have been. I thought I was handling it, but I wasn't." I agreed. "Can I get some socks and fresh shoes?” he asked. “I just found these behind a dumpster." I walked back inside to get him some shoes. When I returned, he had eaten and changed.

This time, he said, "I'm going to change. I know God saved me last night." Then he seemed to qualify that comment: "But I'm not sure about this God stuff. I just don't know." I pushed back and said, "Joey, that's not true. You've always been quite clear on God. I've known you for a while. You've always believed in Him. You're not sure about why God loves you, and you're not sure what your relationship with God is, but you are -- and always have been -- sure about God."
   He thought for a minute and agreed. I continued, "You may not be sure about Christians. I know they've done some dumb things to you in your life." He nodded agreement. "You may not be sure about church. You haven't been welcomed or comfortable there." Again, he agreed. "But you know the truth. Capital T-R-U-T-H. God is real, and He's good. This truth is comforting. It's uplifting. And it gives you strength, all of which you could use right now. So, stop arguing with yourself and just enjoy what you already know."
   Joey agreed to give it time. He's working out his salvation now. He's working on his relationship with God.
 —----

These are strange times. Surely this is the strangest Holy Week I can recall. (Even weirder than the year Ash Wednesday fell on Valentine's Day and the Easter fell on April Fool's.) And we're all dealing with very different issues today than we faced last month, but I've had the privilege of having this "Joey" conversation again and again over the years.  Renewal is real. Rebirth is real. God is comfort; He is uplifting, and He is a source of strength. Joey needs Him, always has. We need Him, always will. We're all on a journey, and I pray we never fail to see that God is with us. Although our journey has led us away from things we now miss and into times we wish were better, I am fully convinced that our path is leading us to a time of something better. (I'm also fully convinced that Joey will find better times ahead.)
   We will likely have a new normal when the pandemic abates, but I believe we can also emerge stronger from this challenging time. Comfort one another. Uplift one another. Enjoy one another! Rejoice! For HE IS RISEN! And He is with us! Amen.
Terry Cole

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.

Easter Blessings and Joy from Our Drop-in Co-op

Our clients mature
in amazing ways!

   Bridgette sat, alone, on a sofa in our Drop-in Center, arms crossed, brow furrowed, staring at other clients. Clearly, she was annoyed.I wondered what I had done. As I watched the evening play out, however, I discovered something that made me smile. I’ll divulge that in a sec …
   We have lots of clients in our Drop-in. There are days they can come and go at will, and there are other days when they need to be on time to participate in scheduled activities like art group, prayer time, and peer support group. We met a record number of new clients last year -- almost 220 -- and they mixed with our existing clients so we served over 650 in all. Not everyone knows everyone else, although we help them form a community. Some are maturing and some are not.
   Lately, we've had a lot of new clients come to our center who are 15 to 19 years old. Most are fresh from foster care and usually boisterous. They can be very messy, because they haven't lived where they are asked to help keep things clean and straight. It's a challenge for sure to get them acclimated to us!
   We also have quite a few clients in the 22-to-26 age range who have been around for a while. They often have jobs and are living in supported housing that has come their way from grant money that SYM helped bring to Austin (It's called Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, if you want to research it). It's an experimental 3-year grant of $11 million for housing homeless young adults under 26.
   And it’s working: After just 6 months, statistics show 40% fewer unsheltered youth and 25% fewer homeless youth in Austin. Meanwhile, SYM client numbers grew by 40%. Somehow the YHDP grant is actually increasing the number of youth who want our counseling! And that's a great thing, because YHDP pays only for housing — no services.
   Back to Bridgette: On this particular night, we had a good mix of established clients who have benefitted from YHDP and new ones waiting to participate. The new clients were clique-ish. They arrived as a group, sat as a group, and went outside as a group. And everywhere they went, they left a mess.
   Bridgette was watching all of this. It turns out I hadn't annoyed her at all — it was the group! She rose from her seat, scooped up the scraps they had tossed onto the floor, then walked outside, only to see another mess on the ground. "This is ridiculous!” she exclaimed as she picked it up. “They shouldn't act like this!"
   I chuckled as I figured out what was going on. Twelve months ago, she was the one leaving the litter and we were picking up after her! It’s a pattern I’ve learned to recognize: Clients who shed their bad habits become annoyed when others don’t. Bridgette’s reaction was a sign of good things to come, so I welcomed it! She was growing up!
   We know our clients change their lives, get jobs, become more responsible, conquer past problems, and mature in amazing ways.It's truly a privilege to be their guidance counselors during this time. We believe every homeless young adult deserves one. We're now expanding our reach southward to San Marcos, but our real plan is to figure out how to train people who already have street youth in or near their lives and want to help!
   And we can't wait to see how each of these wonderful individuals turns out! .

Terry Cole

Have You Read Stephen's Newsletter?

From Stephen:

"This month in the ministry, the overall mood on the drag has changed in a good and significant way. As most of the students leave, I notice that it has been more quiet in the area as compared to last month, when things on the street were more chaotic and concerning. I also notice that the community seems to be much more tolerant of the homeless population now than they have been. We ask that you would pray that this summer would be a peaceful one..."

Continue reading the letter here. 

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