Published: Nov. 28, 2023 at 5:57 AM EST

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – As temperatures drop across our region, more people experiencing homelessness are looking for shelter, including Vermont’s youth.

Burlington-based Spectrum Youth and Family Services says they’ve worked with 1,434 youth this year, a 12% increase from 2022. Officials at Spectrum estimate around 50 youth are homeless and say their shelter is at capacity.

“We’re handing out tents and sleeping bags as fast as we get them in, which is something that we never had to do in the past,” said Will Towne with Spectrum.

Towne says the nonprofit is busier than ever. Their 26-bed shelter is full as are most other shelters in the Burlington area. They’re now working on other options to keep people ages 12 to 26 out of the cold.

“We’re working to try to get our winter warming shelter open and this year, hopefully, we will be able to keep that running year-round,” said Towne.

But without staffing, the 10-bed shelter isn’t running yet.

Marc Redmond with Spectrum says not being able to have a home can take a toll on the mental health of homeless young people. They plan on providing more mental health support, going from 4 to 12 licensed mental health counselors in three years. At one point they had 90 people on their wait list for services.

“It’s down to about nine now; we want it to be zero. But I think it shows the extent even though we keep expanding and adding mental health staff, the extent of the mental health difficulty young people are experiencing,” said Redmond.

An increase in homeless young people isn’t only a problem in Vermont’s most populated county.

“We definitely saw an influx of folks in that age range coming in, especially into the hotel program, the GA emergency shelter program,” Kim Anetsberger said.

Kim Anetsberger and Sherry Marcellino of the Lamoille Community House in Hyde Park say they went from a seasonal night shelter to a seasonal 24-hour shelter due to demand around the pandemic. Their shelter of 12 beds is at capacity, too. They say the county has around 70-80 people experiencing homelessness right now with roughly 30% of them being 18 to 24 years old.

“Their needs are different in the fact that they may not have the same history with homelessness just given their age. They may not have a treatment history, so it might be harder for them to get into services,” said Marcellino.

They say they often notice these young people are coming out of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, have developmental disabilities or struggle with mental illness.

“They’re graduating from the children’s world into the adult world and the bridges are just not strong enough to bring them in,” said Marcellino.

The new Lamoille Community House is opening a new 365-day-a-year shelter. It will be in Hyde Park housing 21 people, and is under construction now.

Copyright 2023 WCAX. All rights reserved.

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Vermont Community Foundation and Buffum Family Foundation announce the “Mark Redmond Fund”, an endowment fund that will contribute $50,000 to Spectrum’s Drop-In Centers each year. Anyone who wishes to contribute to the Mark Redmond Fund is able to do so through Vermont Community Foundation.

September 14, 2023

The Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation announced today that it has given a total of $3.5 million to the Vermont Community Foundation to create endowments to benefit four nonprofit organizations. The endowments will support Spectrum Youth & Family Services in Burlington, the King Street Center in Burlington, Dismas of Vermont, and the Flynn Theatre in Burlington.

The endowments will serve as a source of long-term financial support for the nonprofit organizations and further the Buffum Foundation’s mission to support women, children, families, people with disabilities, and also increase access to the arts.  

“We are supporting these organizations knowing that they will make a difference in the lives of many in the Chittenden County region, while also honoring the legacy of Vicki and Courtney Buffum. These endowments are made possible because of our relationship with the Vermont Community Foundation, where there are resources for investment, administration, and follow-up in the future,” said Tom Gauntlett, president of the board of the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Foundation.

It is a pleasure to work with the Buffum Foundation board of directors as it continues to focus on supporting access to the arts and bettering the lives of women, persons with disabilities, kids, and families, said Ruth Henry, senior philanthropic advisor at the Vermont Community Foundation. “These new endowed funds will help ensure that the important work of the nonprofits being recognized can continue to have a lasting impact throughout our community.”

The late Victoria Buffum was a Chittenden County entrepreneur and philanthropist. She created the Victoria and Courtney Buffum Foundation in 1997 to help women and children at risk, single mothers, persons with brain injuries, children with disabilities, and also to the support the arts. Victoria died in 2002. She was a loving mother to her daughter Courtney Buffum, who attended Shelburne schools and Champlain Valley High School. Courtney, who experienced a serious brain injury in a 1989 car accident, was beloved by her family, friends, and caregivers. She died in 2021.

In 2022 the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Foundation decided to increase the size of its gifts and to partner with the Vermont Community Foundation, where it could establish endowed grants that would be larger and more impactful, said Gauntlett, brother of Victoria Buffum and uncle of Courtney Buffum.

The new endowments reflect that goal.   

The endowment for Spectrum will be named the Mark Redmond Fund. This recognizes Redmond, executive director of the nonprofit, for his work to help homeless and at-risk youth for more than two decades. The endowment will specifically support Spectrum’s drop-in centers, located in Burlington and St. Albans, and their mission to empower teenagers, young adults, and their families to make and sustain positive changes in their lives. The drop-in centers are an “open door through which so many of our youth come to Spectrum for the first time for basic needs such as a hot lunch, dinner, a change of clothing, a shower, or to do laundry,” Redmond said. “From there they can, if they wish, take part in the other services we offer–such as living in one of our residences, getting help finding employment, assistance with returning to school, or perhaps even working at our social enterprise, Detail Works.” He added: “And as far as having this endowment named the Mark Redmond Fund, all I can say is that it is truly humbling, and I am eternally grateful.”

The Flynn endowment will be named the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Access to the Arts Fund. It will provide families, children at risk, and people with disabilities access to the arts in Chittenden County and Northwest Vermont. “We are truly honored to have received such a generous gift from the Courtney and Victoria Buffum Family Foundation,” said Jay Wahl, executive director of the Flynn Theatre. “We extend our deepest thanks to those who helped make this contribution possible. Providing everyone access to the arts is the mission that animates everything our organization does at the theater and in the community. With this gift, Flynn programs such as our Student Matinee Series, Playing Fields, and Movement for Parkinson’s can be expanded to reach and impact even more children and people with disabilities so everyone can benefit from the joys of the arts in their lives.”

The endowment for the King Street Center will specifically benefit its Academic & Career Exploration (ACE) Program. “Every child deserves an equitable opportunity to explore academic and career aspirations, allowing them to envision a brighter future,” said Shabnam Beth Nolan, executive director of King Street. “The Buffum Foundation’s support for King Street Center’s new Academic & Career Exploration (ACE) Program will open the door for youth to discover their passion, while also providing them financial stability to be able to embrace those opportunities. We are incredibly grateful for the Foundation’s investment in this shared vision.”

The Dismas of Vermont endowment will support the nonprofit’s Women’s House in Rutland. “This program was established to fill a need in Vermont and remains the only program of this type to support women moving out of incarceration,” said Jim Curran, executive director of Dismas. “This generous gift ensures the sustainability of the house and program and means that women moving from incarceration will continue to have a safe and accepting space to begin the reconciliation process with the community and themselves. We are so fortunate to have the support of the Buffum Family Foundation.”

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The Vermont Community Foundation was established in 1986 as an enduring source of philanthropic support for Vermont communities. A family of more than 900 funds, foundations, and supporting organizations, the Foundation makes it easy for the people who care about Vermont to find and fund the causes they love. The Community Foundation and its partners put more than $60 million annually to work in Vermont communities and beyond. The heart of its work is closing the opportunity gap—the divide that leaves too many Vermonters struggling to get ahead, no matter how hard they work. The Community Foundation envisions Vermont at its best—where everyone can build a bright, secure future. Visit vermontcf.org or call 802-388-3355 for more information. 

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Want to get involved?

Make a Meal: The Drop-In Center provides lunch and dinner, Monday-Friday for around 15 youth, with leftovers will be kept and served the next day. Meal donations are greatly appreciated!

Join the Spectrum (Virtual) Sleep Out: Each year, adults and students join the Spectrum Sleep Out in solidarity with homeless young adults in Vermont. These courageous individuals sleep outside for one night and raise money to keep Spectrum’s doors open for the next young adult looking for help. All donations raised from St. Albans teams will go directly to the St. Albans Drop-In Center.

Make a Donation: Make a gift today to support young people in the St. Albans area with the expansion of Spectrum’s services.

Spread the Word: Let your friends and neighbors know about about the new Drop-In Center in St. Albans and follow us on Facebook. Click here to learn more about the Spectrum Drop-In Centers.

If you’re a service provider that works with young people, email us to get a tour of the space and meet our staff.

Sign Up for our Newsletter: Get updates on volunteer opportunities, events and news from the St. Albans Drop-In Center but signing up to receive emails.

The post A New Drop-In Center in Downtown St. Albans appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

“The vast majority of the youth that we serve are “transition-aged,” people who are considered adults by the law but whose challenges are unique to their age range. While “transition-aged” is defined as youth between the ages of 16-24, I’d like to speak today about the core of that range, people aged 18-22.

Most of these young people live at the intersection of a range of marginalized identities: they are teenagers, they are experiencing homelessness, they have mental health and substance abuse problems. They are disproportionately people of color or those who identify as LGBTQ+. They might be disabled or scraping by on benefits.

In our day-to-day work we see first-hand how marginalized these youth feel in their community: they aren’t considered for jobs they’re qualified for, they’re seen as a nuisance in public, they’re targeted by police as “troublemakers,” and they’re questioned over their presumed lack of motivation to “better themselves.” It’s our job to help them navigate these systems and create safe spaces for them to grow outside the glare of the public eye.

In my experience and that of my colleagues, this dynamic stands out in particular when transition-aged youth seek care in crisis situations. Specifically, I’d like to speak to some of my experiences with these youth when they’ve tried to access intensive mental health services in our community.

Last year I accompanied a young transgender woman to the hospital. We often offer this kind of advocacy and support role for folks in severe crises. For weeks this youth had been coming to our Drop-In Center reporting increasingly frequent episodes of paranoia and psychosis, accompanied by intensifying thoughts of suicide. As her crisis deepened, we made as many referrals as we could to mental health supports like counseling, medical care, advocates for survivors.

Nothing took. And then she came to Drop-In with obvious physical marks of the last night’s suicide attempt, and an insistence that it was a matter of time before she followed through with her suicide. Yes, she had a plan. Yes, we were both terrified.

At the hospital she was told in plain language that her reported mental health symptoms could not be true given the way she presented in that moment. She was told that her recent attempt must not have been particularly serious, and that her plan to kill herself did not merit further medical attention. She was discharged after about an hour with no discernable plan of care or follow-up.

I don’t doubt that this kind of invalidation added a new layer of trauma to her experience, and that she might be less likely to seek medical care when in a future crisis because of it. Despite her traumas, she saved herself. Somehow – amazingly – she traveled by herself to a different state, got herself admitted into an inpatient facility at a hospital, and stayed there for over a month. She was ultimately discharged and admitted into a stabilization clinic in Vermont before moving into a residential mental health program. 

And I will offer another brief anecdote. About when a 19-year-old, also transgender, reported to us that she was abducted for days and repeatedly assaulted before running away and making it back to the Drop-In Center. She went to the hospital, where she was seen by intake staff before getting overwhelmed and returning to Drop-In. When I went back to the hospital to support and advocate for her, she was scolded, told that she’d wasted hospital staff’s time by leaving, and that she’d have to wait longer because she left. It felt like a punishment. The forensic nurse who examined her was kind, but the damage was already done at the admission-level. She angrily refused most services and said that, if there were a next time, she’d skip the hospital altogether.

It’s really important to me that everyone here understands: I’m telling these stories not to condemn the hospital, any local clinicians, or any mental health providers who are doing an incredibly difficult job with limited resources, especially now. I understand that they have to make seemingly impossible choices, and I’m grateful for the effective care they’ve given to other Spectrum clients. I tell these stories only to show what my colleagues and I are seeing on the ground: transition-aged youth, particularly the most vulnerable, are met with skepticism and eye-rolls when they seek help in a crisis.

So, why is that?

Why are the transition-aged youth that we serve, who are among the most vulnerable folks in our society, treated like the lowest priorities in their times of need? In my opinion, the reasons that our youth aren’t taken seriously in these situations are the exact same reasons that they should be taken most seriously.  

It isn’t a secret that the trauma of youth homelessness takes a toll on people’s mental health. According to a 2019 study published by researchers at the University of Southern California, 12 percent of adolescents in the United States have considered suicide, while 4 percent have attempted suicide. For youth experiencing homelessness, the study shows that 46 percent of those surveyed had attempted suicide, and that 78 percent of those who had previously attempted would continue to make attempts.

That is for youth homelessness. What happens when you add more layers of marginalization? For example, UCLA cites the 2015 Transgender Study as reporting that more than 80 percent of transgender people have seriously considered suicide in their lifetimes, and that over 40 percent make at least one attempt. These rates are so much higher than those of the general population, it’s hard to fathom.

And to put these two populations together, again consider that youth homelessness disproportionately affects people who identify as LGBTQ+, as well as people of color. We at Spectrum see these trends on the ground.

What I’m getting at is – as far as I’ve seen in this work – the more traumatized you are, the more marginalized you are, the more likely you are to be turned away in your hour of need. And I think that the opposite should be true.

So how do we start to address this trend?

To start, I think we should go back to the basics. The practice of Trauma-Informed Care is widely embraced as a baseline tool to help client-facing staff approach people in crisis with knowledge and compassion.

It’s rooted in a classic maxim in social work: do no harm. To quote from an article on the practice published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also known as SAMHSA: “Trauma-Informed Care begins with the first contact a person has with an agency; it requires all staff members (e.g., receptionists, intake personnel, direct care staff, supervisors, administrators, peer supports, board members) to recognize that the individual’s experience of trauma can greatly influence his or her receptivity to and engagement with services, interactions with staff and clients, and responsiveness to program guidelines, practices, and interventions. Trauma-Informed Care includes program policies, procedures, and practices to protect the vulnerabilities of those who have experienced trauma and those who provide trauma-related services.” 

Put simply, it’s a good way of treating people with dignity and understanding when they’re at their worst. So no doubt, Trauma-Informed Care is a really helpful tool to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. But maybe we need other tools, too. 

We at Spectrum have recently been told two different things: that there are more than enough beds in the state for psychiatric patients of all ages, and then that there are not.  We’re not sure who to believe. But no matter who’s right, we do know that young people in psychiatric distress are turned away at alarming rates.

So what’s happening? What’s the disconnect? If the capacity does exist, why and how is the criteria for admission failing transition-aged youth? And whether the question is capacity or criteria, I think that we should start a conversation about diverting resources toward creating clinical programs that cater specifically to the needs of transition-aged youth. 

Why specifically, transition-aged youth?

For one, beyond the trends I’ve just mentioned, countless studies have confirmed that the human brain continues to develop and mature for years into true adulthood. It’s uniquely sensitive and fragile in this growth period.

It’s also widely accepted that youth trauma and homelessness can lead to long-term mental health problems and chronic homelessness in adulthood. Instead of accepting that as an inevitability, what if we set aside resources to meet the needs of this unique population, one whose future has proven to have a profound effect on all of our social and economic futures?

If we can take lessons from this pandemic – like diverting resources upstream, like focusing on prevention and mitigation before the current becomes chronic – then maybe we can start to make lasting change.

Let’s have a conversation.“

The post Are Vermont’s Institutions Failing Transition-Aged Youth? appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

The Board of Directors at Spectrum Youth and Family Services have approved a plan to open a Drop-In Center for teens and young adults in downtown St. Albans in the coming months. The Center will be open weekdays from 10am – 6pm, offering free lunch and dinner, showers, laundry,  mentoring, coaching, and activities to youth ages 14-22.  A location is to be determined.

“We know from our decades of work in Burlington that with sustained support, youth who are struggling can get their lives on track.” said Mark Redmond, Executive Director at Spectrum. “We are very pleased to be able to extend our services to St. Albans. Our goal is to provide a safe space where young people find that support while also being connected to other services in the community, such as tutoring from Vermont Adult Learning and case management from Northwest Counseling and Support Services.” 

Spectrum is opening the Drop-In Center at the urging of St. Albans community leaders and its own staff who have had a presence in the county serving youth in state custody in St. Albans. Without a youth center or similar programs in the community, there is a need for a safe, warm and consistent physical place where youth can go to receive a hot meal, help with homework, assistance finding a job, and a friendly ear.

“It is such great news to hear that Spectrum will be opening up a drop-in center here in St. Albans!” said Dr. Kevin Dirth, superintendent of Maple Run Unified School District. “This has been a long time coming.  I look forward to Maple Run’s collaboration with them to expand the support of our children in this community.”

Spectrum has worked with multiple community partners to realize this vision including: the City of St. Albans, Northwest Counseling and Support Services, Northwestern Medical Center, Samaritan House, Martha’s Kitchen, Ben and Jerry’s, Mylan Technologies, Mill River Brewery, and Groennfell Meadery.

The Spectrum Board of Directors made a multi-year commitment to maintain the Drop-In Center, with future years dependent on need and funding. Seed funding for the first year of operation was provided by two anonymous donors, Mylan Technologies, Mike Lane and Cat Carvelli, and many individual donations.  Spectrum will hold a Sleep Out in St. Albans to support the program, and donations are also being accepted at https://donate.spectrumvt.org/stalbans.

The post Spectrum Youth & Family Services to Expand to St. Albans appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Read below to learn more about the plan, process and timeline of the renovation over the next year and thank you for being part of our village of believers!

Creating Seamless Services for Spectrum Youth

The Drop-In Center provides hot meals, fresh clothes, showers, laundry, and one-on-one support to teens and young adults who are facing homelessness and other challenges.

Many of the youth we serve have a history of trauma and don’t trust adults. Our staff work hard to build trusting relationships with the youth who come into Drop-In. Often these youth don’t feel comfortable accessing our other programs with unfamiliar adults.

As Leslie Ferrer, Spectrum’s clinical director, recently said, “Many youth at Drop-In have been through a lot—they may have been abused, went through foster care, lived with dysfunctional families, etc. Drop-In is often the only place where they truly feel safe. Walking to another building for other services can be really hard for them. Having youth meet counselors in a space where they already feel safe is the best way to begin to address issues of trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance use.”

The Vault

The vault is a large, unused, windowless room (the size of a racquetball court) behind the Drop-In Center. Before Spectrum, it was used to store furs.

We would like to turn the empty vault into usable space for counselors, case managers, tutors and mentors to meet with youth that come to the Drop-In Center. The vault will yield two floors of usable space, totaling 1,500 square feet.

The Renovation

The renovation will take about four months and be completed in two stages, so that the disruption to youth and staff is minimal. Renovating the Drop-In Center and vault will:

• Convert the Vault into two floors and 1500 square feet of useable space for counselors, mentors, case managers, and tutors to meet one-on-one with youth.
• Expand and relocate the kitchen to make it easier to serve meals for 20-35 people. (Right now, our kitchen is like one you’d find in a small apartment and cooking for so many is a challenge).
• Add a computer library separate from the main room so youth can focus while they work.
• Give youth a bigger range of options for how to use the space based on how they are feeling that day, such as sitting in a window with a friend, chatting in a group, playing a game at a table, or even cozying up in the quiet nook.
• Make sure the Drop-In Center’s doors are open for youth who need help this year.

Renovating the Drop-In space will create more room for youth, along with a larger kitchen, an additional shower, a library, a quiet nook, and a meeting room. The vault renovation will create meeting spaces for our mental health counselors, life skills coaches, and tutors to meet with youth.

How YOU Can Give

You can make the Drop-In Center more welcoming and warm for youth when they walk through that door—all while making sure our kids get all of the help they need where they feel safest. Will you help make the path a little easier for our youth by making a gift today?

You can give online here AND if you give before December 31st, 2019, your gift will be doubled by a group of generous donors that have pledged to match donations.

Questions?

Contact Sarah Woodard, Director of Development, at  swoodard@spectrumvt.org or (802) 864-7423 x350

The post Renovation of the Drop-In Center and Vault appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Getting an accurate picture of the number of youth who are homeless is a constant challenge, here’s why…

If you walk by the Drop-In Center on any given evening and look through the windows, you’ll probably see anywhere from 10-25 young adults unwinding from their day.

They might be making themselves a cup of tea, playing Uno and joking with one-another, talking with a staff member, or helping with dinner preparations—much like any young person at the end of their day.

“The best thing about Spectrum is being able to come into a safe space,” says Jaime, a youth who regularly comes to the Drop-In Center for dinner and a shower, “it’s like a home.”

Many youth like Jaime are “partially” homeless. In just one week, they might go from sleeping on a friend’s couch, to sleeping in their car, to sleeping in a laundromat and then back to another friend’s couch.

For this reason, getting an accurate picture of the number of youth who are homeless in Vermont is consistently a struggle for organizations like us. However, there are a couple ways to try to understand how many young people are struggling to find a place to lay their head.

Point-in-Time Count

On a single night in Vermont in 2018, over 100 unaccompanied youth were counted as homeless by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). These youth were all between the ages of 18 and 24.

USICH gets their numbers by looking at data compiled by area providers, such as local shelters, drop-in centers, the Economic Services hotel program, etc.

But it’s not quite that simple.  As Will Towne, the supported housing manager at Spectrum, recently said, “These numbers are vague, and the ‘single-night number’ is most likely an undercount. It is most often dependent on how many staff members or volunteers are available on a single night to count the number of people who are homeless as well as their ability to find folks who may be living on the street or in wooded areas. And, it doesn’t include people who are couch-surfing and staying with friends, like Jaime.”

Public School Data

Another way of understanding youth homelessness in Vermont is through the public school data reported to the U.S. Department of Education. It shows that over 1,000 Vermont public school students experienced homelessness over the course of a year.

Of that total:

• over 50 students were unsheltered
• 150 were in shelters
• 225 were in motels
• 670 were doubled up (more than 1 person per room)

However, because Spectrum serves both teens and young adults (ages 16 to 23) in its housing programs, this count does not give us an accurate picture either.

Spectrum’s Role

Because of our staff, donors, and volunteers, Spectrum has been a “home” to young people who need a place to live since 1970 when it was founded.

The eight-bed Landing is one of our three housing options for homeless youth ages 16-23. Each room has two beds, and residents share a common living, kitchen, and dining area.

In 2018, Spectrum housed 71 youth—including 20 at The Landing, 58 at the Warming Shelter, and 14 at the Pearl Street Residence – which actually adds up to 92 because some youth were in more than one type of residence.  We also supported over 260 youth at our Drop-in Center, providing two hot meals a day, hot showers, clean clothes, and a friendly ear.

“We are working with Vermont communities to improve the way we collect data. This will more accurately reflect the number of unaccompanied young people experiencing homelessness, helping us to understand trends in youth homelessness in Vermont. And most importantly, areas for improvement.” –Will Towne

The post Youth Homelessness in Vermont appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

It turned out, however, that this woman didn’t own the house.

The actual landlord came knocking at the end of August, looking for the rent that Asia’s roommate had never turned over to him. The roommate was nowhere to be found.

Asia had two days to move out.

“I didn’t know where to go. I had to pack a duffel bag and I had one trash bag of things. I walked down the street and was just standing in the neighborhood like, ‘Where do I go? What do I do?’

“I went to Greer’s on Williston Road—a 24-hour laundromat—and I sat there all day and night just trying to figure out what I’m going to do. I ended up falling asleep there that night.”

Early the next morning, Asia found a storage facility down the road, and rented the smallest unit they had. “I took my duffle bag and my plastic bag, and I sat inside of the storage place and I was like, ‘Okay. I’m protected from the outside elements.’ So I started
sleeping in there. I did that for a while and still went to school, still went to work. I also got a gym membership so I could shower.”

After sleeping in the storage unit for a month, the owner noticed and asked her to leave. She gave up the unit, packed what she could into the duffle bag, and found places to sleep wherever she could—all while showering at the gym, working, and going to school.

“I slept in gas station bathrooms…just crazy situations,” she says. “But once mid-terms started to approach, I was like, ‘I can’t do this,’ it’s just physically draining, mentally draining, keeping up the same facade.”

She went to Economic Services, but she couldn’t get food stamps. “They said that I made too much based off the school loans that I got and the amount of hours I was working,” she says. “But they said I can go down the street—there’s a place called Spectrum.”

“I went to the Drop-In Center and as soon as I walked in, Christina [Drop-In senior staff] greeted me and her spirit alone is just so sweet. I let her know my situation. She was very understanding. I never felt judged. I didn’t feel alone.”

Asia asked about housing and was connected to Alex, our intake coordinator, who offered her a bed in The Landing upstairs. “And when she said that, I just couldn’t even deal with it,” says Asia. “It was just overwhelming, but she took me right upstairs immediately said I can put my stuff down and to come back later when we’re serving dinner if I’m hungry. It made me feel like I’m not the only one in this, that they’re here for me.”

“The staff were very welcoming and it just made me feel so secure and so safe. It was just opposite of what I had been feeling and it just felt so good to just take a deep breath and just say, okay, I’m going to be fine.

“And from there, things just kind of got better.”

“The fact that the community supports this organization is just amazing to me,” says Asia. “Even when I thought I was alone, I wasn’t alone. Now that I know that there are people out there that care, it just makes living each day even better and it makes me want to do the best that I can. So thank you again, even the people that I didn’t know were in my corner.”

We’re in awe…

Asia still earned a 3.8 GPA that semester and got promoted at her job, even after all she had been through.

The post Asia’s Story appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

“I can honestly say that I don’t know where I would be now if it weren’t for Spectrum welcoming me with open arms when no one else would.”

Spectrum youth are some of the most resilient people we’ve ever met. Whether they’re transitioning to adulthood after living in foster care, or pushing to get through school in a foreign language, or trying to overcome a childhood of trauma, they are determined to build a life for themselves.

What they need is someone to help them figure out what their goals are, to offer a friendly ear no matter what, and to let them dream big. And all of that was made possible this year because of our incredible community of donors, volunteers, and mentors. Below is an overview of what was accomplished because of your support. Thank you from all of our hearts, to yours. You can find a PDF version of the annual report here.

Basic Needs & Stable Homes

The Drop-In Center and Supported Housing programs were open for teenagers and young adults who needed a hot meal, clean clothes, a shower, or a place to sleep.

What’s new: A steady stream of federal and state funding cuts in recent years means that more and more, we rely on the generosity of people like you to keep our doors open. In 2018, 33% of the funding for our housing programs came from you, our donors. This year, that percentage rose to 48%, and in 2020, we expect it to be 59%. Thanks to you, we know we’ll be here for the next youth who needs help.

From the left: The Winter Warming Shelter. A group meeting at the Landing (short-term housing). A youth room at the Landing.

260 youth served at the Drop-In Center

33 youth served at the Winter Warming Shelter

50 youth served at the Landing (short-term transitional housing)

37 youth served through the Transitional Housing Program

Life & Survival Skills

This year, teenagers and young adults learned how to find and keep a job, get into and pay for school, budget for an apartment, and other critical life skills.

What’s new: Spectrum’s Multicultural Youth Program set up a Help Desk in the libraries of Burlington and Winooski High Schools to help multicultural youth with anything from tutoring, to driver’s ed, to preparing for life after high school. The Help Desks were staffed with assistance from our partners: the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants and Burlington’s Community Economic Development Office.

From the left: Youth staff at Detail Works, working with head detailer, Jasmine Wood. Yuol Herjok Yuol, Multicultural Youth Program outreach coordinator, speaking with senior Halima Said at Winooski High School’s Help Desk.

160 youth served through the Youth Development Program

112 youth served through Jump on Board for Success

283 youth served through the Multicultural Youth Program

14 youth served through Detail Works

Prevention & Intervention

Every day, teenagers and young adults are working through substance use and mental
health challenges with our therapists, befriending positive adult role models in our mentoring program, and practicing self-care through the health clinic housed in our building.

Spectrum mentors and mentees at ECHO Lake & Aquarium Center’s Community Science Night.

What’s new: In January 2019, the Vermont Department of Children and Families asked us to launch a new program called Compass, which works with youth who are at risk of going into foster care, becoming involved with the justice system, or otherwise facing a crisis. We offer intensive support to both the youth and the family to help them get their lives back on track.

319 youth served through Riverstone Counseling

106 youth served through Mentoring

794 youth served through the Pearl Street Youth Clinic

Thanks to all of the donors, volunteers and mentors that have supported Spectrum youth. It is because of you that they thrive. As one youth recently said,

“I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful for your donation. Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to have a good life, a better life that I want.”

The post A year of “you-are-not-alone” appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

“Every person that I have met is an amazing human soul, whether they realize it or not.”

A group of students from Champlain College recently set out to tell the story of the young people that use Spectrum’s services, resulting in a short documentary titled “Spectrum Voices”. The teens and young adults featured in the documentary are getting the help that they need thanks to kindhearted and generous people like you who support Spectrum’s programs.

Want to learn more about the lives of the people that you’ve helped? Watch “Spectrum Voices” today to hear their stories.

The post Hear the stories of the youth you’ve helped support. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.