Our philosophy is “ Homelessness is the absence of hope,”
Many believe that we provide just housing, but housing is just a tool for the big picture. We know that it is hard to find hope when there is no peace. Housing is a tool for comfort and clarity that then transcends into peace. But let’s remember, peace doesn’t last forever in minds used to trauma. To change the path for our youth, we must look at housing as the tool to hope. To create hope, we have to transform the mental state to a vision that aligns with a purpose that creates an identity.
About 90% of our youth exiting the foster care system struggle with identity. Just imagine being born into a world and the main people you believe would accept and love you give you away. Many of the youth I work with, have never seen their parents, nor do they have a family. From a mental state, the words they repeat in their head about 10 -20 times a day is, “No one cares.”
This statement is saying, “No one loves me enough to care.” Their parents’ trauma, never knowing what it means to have a family, has left them with this statement they have now agreed to, which leaves them purposeless. As their hope demises, so does the environment around them. Their lifestyle reflects what they believe about themselves. If no one cares, why should I care about myself? Within 10 -15 years, these are the people you see on the street intoxicated, with urine and feces on their clothing, living in a makeshift encampment. What used to be a child struggling with identity deprived of hope and vision by the statements playing in their head, is now a fully grown adult labeled as a homeless person.
Our philosophy is if we can plant the seed of hope early enough, we can end the cycle of hopelessness. The way we plant the seed is first to reinvent one identity. The following steps are our approach.
- Identifying the Super Power Within:
This is the process of transforming the story. Instead of only looking at the pain as pain, but looking at their pain as gain. What are some character traits they have gained from their experience and how can they benefit them?
2.Find The Villain:
Every superhero has to have a villain. Using their superpower as a tool for passion. How can they express their experience in an artistic way that might help others fighting this villain? Working in a field that also supports your vision. Remember, passion is always hiding in pain.
Practice Your Powers:
- To change the narrative in our minds, we have to experience a new story. Within our program, we go hard on investing in our youth to create their story. We give them many opportunities to practice this new power they have discovered by job placements that cater to their passion — creating a music/art studio to express their powers artistically. We also bring in speakers from similar backgrounds to speak about how they transferred their powers. As a result, we build a community of Hope which gives no room for loss of identity.
So the next time someone asks you what foundation you support? Don’t say, “A program that provides housing for youth aging out of foster care.”
Say, “A program that uses housing as a tool to discover and applying the superpowers of our youth exiting out of foster care.”
If they want to know how, send them this article. :-)
