She really does it!

When Alexander Hamilton was 10, his father deserted the family and left them in debt. Before long, his mother died and he moved in with a cousin, but the cousin killed himself. Young Alex then signed on as an apprentice to a merchant and moved in with his family. But as if there hadn't had enough turmoil in his young life, the Caribbean island where Hamilton lived was devastated by a hurricane. He wrote about it, and about his feelings, and his article was published. The community was so impressed with what he wrote that they took up a collection for him to travel to New York and go to college. While he was there he boarded with a tailor's family. He went to school, impressed a lot of people, and was hired as an assistant to George Washington, who mentored him and treated him like a son. Alexander Hamilton grew up to become a war hero, a lawyer, a congressman, and the first Treasury Secretary of the brand new United States of America.

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell discusses how big positive changes can happen in the same way that epidemics do, the same way that something goes viral on the internet. Many small changes somehow coalesce like a rolling snowball into a much larger change. And the tipping point happens in one dramatic moment, like walking up a see-saw. When you get the middle ̶ the tipping point ̶ the see-saw quickly dips down on the other side.

You are making it happen! Because of your support, we have reached a "tipping point" in our effort to end youth homelessness in Benton and Linn counties. When will we actually get there? We will know we have ended youth homelessness when every young person who is ejected from their home, runs away ̶ or is homeless for any reason ̶ has immediate access to youth-appropriate interventions, housing, and services, the kind of help and support that enables each youth to grow and develop as an adolescent or young adult and make a safe transition to adulthood.

Together we ̶ with YOUR help ̶ have built a framework designed to end youth homelessness in Linn and Benton Counties. We started 14 years ago in Corvallis with a much-needed 24/7 shelter for ages 10-17, and added a second shelter in Albany just over a year ago. These provide safety, support, and family reunification. Street Outreach and Drop-in Centers are critical to building trust with youth who need help. Our Next Steps program offers longer-term housing and guidance for young people (ages 18-20) transitioning to adulthood without family support.

Additionally, proactive programs like mentoring, peer-support groups, and independent living skills classes aim to both address current issues and avert potential problems. We have reached the tipping point by providing this framework of youth-appropriate services designed for this vulnerable population.

We need to sustain the continuum of prevention, outreach, shelter, and housing. There are still a few areas where we need to grow capacity quickly to meet the immense need we see daily. Our top two issues:

1) We need more Volunteer Mentors to match with our constant waiting-list of youth. Consider becoming a Mentor - learn more here!

2) We need more housing for 18- to 20-year-olds who are finishing high school and building job skills.

Progress toward our goals depends on all of us as a community working together to support these services. We must do everything possible to make a difference for all those youth who, like Alexander Hamilton, need help so that they can dream, plan, and live with the same chances of a productive and fulfilling life that you and I enjoy.

Jackson Street Youth Services
[email protected] | www.jacksonstreet.org