A leader in homeless youth programs, Burlington, Vermont’s Spectrum Youth and Family Service has been offering shelter and community to at-risk and homeless youth since 1970. Did you know that Senator Patrick Leahy, then the Vermont State’s Attorney, was one of Spectrum’s early Board members? It was 1970 and a group of community members wanted to have a shelter that would house the growing number of at-risk youth who were running away from their foster homes. The Burlington Ecumenical Action Ministry (BEAM) teamed up with this group of concerned citizens to found SHAC, which stood for Shelter Action and later became known as Spectrum Youth and Family Services.
Our message to young people is not “how do we help you get off the street tonight?” It is, “how do we help you create a plan involving education, job training, physical health and mental health so that you can make your way off the street permanently.”
Who is Spectrum?
Spectrum Youth and Family Services is celebrating our 40th anniversary in 2010! In 2009, Spectrum was nationally recognized as the Agency of the Year awarded by National Network for Youth.
Spectrum One Stop (SOS), our flagship program, is located a block from the top of Church Street in downtown Burlington – where all of our services are under one roof. Our doors are open seven days a week, at the SOS, where we provide our community’s youth in need with the most essential basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter.
Why do kids become homeless?
Youth become homeless for many reasons: family conflict, physical and sexual abuse, neglect. Their parents might be abusing substances, unwilling or unable to care for them.
The Spectrum approach begins with basic needs
Our healthy meals program serves lunch and dinner seven days a week downstairs at our Drop-in Center. Last year alone we served 5,391 meals to more than 500 homeless, foster, and at-risk youth. Not only does our Drop-in Center serve meals twice a day, young people can also use the telephone, do laundry, get clothing, or take a shower. Many of these young people stay upstairs in our 13-bed emergency shelter, which is full most nights.
Spectrum One Stop is where many youth make initial contact with Spectrum staff members and begin to access our services and programs including:
-Employment & job-skills training
-Education
-Life-skills training
-Mental health & substance abuse counseling
-Mentoring
-Violence intervention programs
-Juvenile Justice
-Street Outreach
How does Spectrum help?
We work one-on-one with each young person (ages 14-21) that walks through our doors. Our philosophy is never to give up, we are their advocates, and we give youth first chances, second chances, and third chances.
"Spectrum has developed the ability to meet young people where they are, with the help they need most, and gives them a way to move successfully to the next level, until they are ready to make it in the community.” –Spectrum donor
