News & Updates from YouthCare
As peaceful protestors across this city have demanded justice against racism and brutality, they’ve faced police clad in military-grade riot gear. Sound grenades. Tear gas. Rubber bullets. Our streets look like a warzone. Last Friday, Mayor Durkan and Chief Best issued a 30-day suspension of the use of tear gas, which was banned from warfare… Read More of “Mayor Durkan: Defund. Reform. Redistribute. Reinvest.”
There is an undeniable link between youth homelessness and institutionalized racism. We are a country that has disenfranchised communities of color, limiting their economic viability and access to opportunity through a system of laws and policies. Systems of oppression that steal childhoods from youth of color who are pushed out of schools and into the… Read More of “YouthCare Stands in Solidarity: Say Their Names. Protest. Educate. Give. Vote.”
It has been over two months since Washington State began its shelter-place-order and YouthCare reconfigured our program models and services. Through this time, YouthCare worked on contingency planning for how to respond if a youth or staff tested positive for COVID-19. We’re grateful that when COVID-19 recently arrived at YouthCare’s Orion Center, and then YouthCare’s… Read More of “COVID-19 Update: Resilience Abounds”
“What I have in the back of my head is we can’t do everything. So for the twenty-five people we do have and are helping, that’s a win,” said YouthCare’s Senior Program Manager of Engagement Services Charese Jones in a story for the Seattle Times. Her coworker, Semone Andu, said the crisis has laid bare… Read More of “Coronavirus brings ‘a whole other layer of trauma’ for workers who serve homeless people”
I wanted to take a quick moment to recognize today as International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. Today was created in 2004 to draw attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender, intersex people, and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics. “The… Read More of “International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biophobia”
This has been an incredibly challenging and emotional time for our country and our world. Last week, our nation saw, yet again, video footage of a gruesome and traumatic murder of an unarmed Black man. The life of Ahmaud Arbery was taken when he went on his neighborhood jog. Two vigilante community members assumed he… Read More of “YouthCare CEO: Responding to the Murder of Ahmaud Abery”
GiveBIG—our state’s biggest collective giving event—is here. Today, we’re asking for your help to keep youth safe and fight back against this pandemic’s injustices. GiveBIG Now This crisis has magnified the inequities impacting our most vulnerable communities. Emerging data shows that people of color are dying and getting sick at higher rates; people experiencing homelessness are particularly vulnerable… Read More of “GiveBIG to Keep Youth Safe – Extended to May 15!”
As you are aware, King County has been significantly impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Our hearts go out to those personally affected, and particularly to families who have lost a loved one. The safety and wellbeing of our staff, youth, and community members are of paramount importance to YouthCare. We are closely monitoring the evolving… Read More of “COVID-19: Your Support is Vital”
At the start of our conversation, Alexa asked me for yarn. Like all of you, everything in my world has recently changed. As CEO, I don’t always get to interact directly with young people in our programs, but this week I spent some time at YouthCare’s Orion Center. Alexa is a young woman in our… Read More of “A Letter from Melinda on COVID-19”
What do you do mean you’ve “consolidated resources and teams?” YouthCare offers a comprehensive range of services including prevention, shelter, housing, education, and employment training. We have temporarily suspended the majority of our education, employment, and prevention programs to focus exclusively on the core services of food, shelter, and housing. Staff from suspended programs have… Read More of “FAQ: YouthCare’s COVID-19 Response”
