Youth Futures Utah opens shelter home for runaway and homeless youth in St. George
By Kristen Mitchell
On Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m., Youth Futures will hold a ribbon-cutting at 340 E. Tabernacle St. for the opening of a new shelter home in St. George to provide emergency overnight and temporary residential shelter, drop-in daytime programming, and ongoing supportive services for runaway and homeless youth ages 12–17 and non-emancipated 18 year olds. This new shelter meets a critical need in the community, helping to end the cycle for homeless for the hundreds of unaccompanied homeless youth identified by the Washington County School District and local youth service providers. Youth Futures Utah, which currently operates a shelter home in downtown Ogden, will duplicate its existing temporary residential support shelter and daytime services for vulnerable youth, including case management, meals, connections to community resources, therapy, group support, and meeting basic food, shelter, clothing and safety needs at the Youth Futures St. George location.
Youth Futures Utah began working with a coalition of youth service providers and concerned citizens from Washington and Iron Counties in April 2017 to establish its shelter home model in Washington County during 2018. Youth Futures purchased the home and adjacent office space on 340/330 E. Tabernacle St. in January 2018 and has been renovating to meet client needs and building, fire, health, and safety codes since early February. The new shelter home will initially open 24 hours per day with 10 beds as well as daytime hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to provide food, access to showers, case management, group support, and laundry facilities to youth not accessing residential shelter services. Youth Futures anticipates sheltering 20–25 youth from now until the end of the year at the St. George location.
An estimated 5,000 youth spend at least one night a year in unsafe circumstances in Utah. Nationwide, homeless youth are at a higher risk of mental health problems, physical abuse, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, trafficking, suicide attempts, and death. Causes for homelessness among this population tend to fall into three interrelated categories: family problems, financial crisis, or residential instability.
Youth Futures was established to lower rates of youth suicide and homelessness, build youth self-sufficiency, and resiliency, and increase the rates of education, employment, and mental health among homeless youth as they approach adulthood. The expected outcomes of our programming are fewer reports of youth victimization and suicides as well as fewer reports of youth engaging in risky survival behaviors. Our programming creates a world where runaway and at-risk youth in Utah can access a safe, supportive, and affirming place to call home and get their lives back on track.
Youth Futures launched a $2.86 million, two-phase campaign in July 2017 to provide emergency overnight shelter, transitional housing, and ongoing supportive services for homeless youth ages 12–20 in southern Utah. Phase I is budgeted at $1,335,000, including purchase and renovation of the shelter home facility (for ages 12–17), purchase and renovation of a daytime service center (for ages 12–20), program operations, community outreach and project management. The cost for Phase II of the capital campaign (transitional housing for young adult ages 18–20) is expected to be about $1.5 million and will launch in 2019. Additional information on the project can be found at bit.ly/YFSG_Campaign.
Youth Futures has been actively raising funds for the project since September 2017. As of Oct. 10, the capital campaign has raised approximately $1,226,500, or 92 percent of the total goal, through a combination of cash donations, pledges, and in-kind contributions of services and goods. The project needs to raise an additional $108,000 to achieve its goal. Donation can be made at give.classy.org/youthfuturesstgeorge or by contacting Jen Parsons-Soran at campaign@yfut.org.
Kristen Mitchell and Scott Catuccio founded Youth Futures, headquartered in Ogden, to provide safe shelter, collaborative resources, respectful guidance, and diverse support to homeless, unaccompanied, runaway and at-risk youth in Utah. This mission is met through an overnight shelter facility, drop-in services, and street outreach for homeless youth ages 12–17, regardless of circumstances. Youth accessing programs and services receive intensive case management to help them become reunited with family or self-sufficiently contributing to our community. Programs connect each youth, on an individual basis, with local community resources to build the skills that are needed to support a healthy future.
Since its opening in February 2015, Youth Futures Ogden has sheltered 214 RHY an average of 43 nights for a total of 9,248 nights; served 28,211 meals; provided 3,337 daytime drop-in services including case management, connections to education, health care, mental health care and group therapy, facilitation with other youth service providers, computer access, showers, laundry facilities, etc.; opened the resource room 1,941 times with access to basic necessities such as clothing, hygiene items, back packs, blankets, sleeping bags and basic medical supplies; and conducted approximately 1,941 street outreach hours.
Youth Futures annually serves approximately 300 youth per year at the 16-bed Ogden location and anticipates serving 150–200 youth per year in the 10-bed St. George facility. As of Oct. 11, Youth Futures has sheltered 64 youth in Ogden a total of 2,955 nights and projects sheltering a total of 87 youth more than 3,300 nights by the end of the year. It has received several inquiries for youth in need of services and estimates that the St. George facility will shelter approximately 30 youth the last three months of the year. Future plans include expanding the Ogden campus in early 2019 and providing transitional housing for young adults ages 18–20 in southern Utah by 2021.
Youth in need of shelter can access services by dropping by the Youth Futures St. George facility, calling (435) 339-0787, emailing info@yfut.org, messaging via Facebook @YouthFuturesUT, or visiting youthfuturesutah.org.
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