Our mission is to empower teenagers, young adults, and their families to make and sustain positive changes through prevention, intervention, and life skills services.
Former Vermont Governor Jim Douglas signs H.449 into law, raising the age limit of youth in foster care from 18 to 21 in Spectrum’s Drop-In Center in 2007.
We offer emergency shelter and transitional housing for young people ages 16-24 in Burlington and St. Albans.
Detail Works is a social enterprise designed to help young people build the soft skills and trade skills they need in the workplace.
Our executive director recently received a note from a mom whose son is consumed with his addiction. “I myself feel very guilty and a failure as parent because I knew this could happen to him. I talked to him about it several times…” she wrote. “But talking and a good family weren’t enough.” You can read Mark’s response in the …
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This spring, the Associated Press Stylebook removed the word “addict” as a noun. This change is important for humanizing people with drug addictions. “When you call someone an addict, it reduces them to just that,” said Mark Redmond, our ED. “But it’s just one element of their being — they’re a mother or a brother …
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Recently, Jack Thurston of NECN visited Detail Works, our new social enterprise. Detail Works is a deluxe car detailing shop that gives job skills and life skills to our youth and empowers them to practice having a job in a supportive environment.
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As part of my senior capstone project, I developed a life skills training program for the youth in Spectrum’s supported housing. The Game of Life helped youth practice their money management skills. The cooking module was designed to show the youth they can cook healthy, fresh meals for a lower cost than buying pre-prepared food.
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It is so much harder to go to school without getting to wake up and take a shower and go through your normal morning routine. I struggled to stay focused during the day after the Sleep Out because I was tired.
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