Thanks to your support, our warming shelter housed teens and young adults who had nowhere else to stay this past winter.

A safe haven during the winter months

The past few winters have been challenging for young people facing homelessness in Burlington. All area shelters have been full, including the adult warming shelter that was launched four years ago, and our Drop-In staff often had to turn youth away at the end of the day not knowing where they would spend the night.

Luckily, thanks to generous community members like you, our warming shelter served 33 teens and young adults over the course of the winter who had nowhere else to stay.

One of the youth who came to us had been sleeping at the airport. Another, in a laundromat. Another, in a parking garage. Some stayed with us only a few weeks until they were able to find permanent housing, while others were able to move into the Landing, one of Spectrum’s residences, as beds opened up.

“The shelter provided people with an opportunity to regain some stability in their lives,” says Will, the Supported Housing Supervisor at Spectrum. “When you think about homeless people and housing programs, there are often people that just need a week or two of stability to get their feet back under them.”

“Last year, we had full occupancy in our other housing program and months-long waiting lists. That wasn’t really acceptable. We felt like we needed to do something about it.”

A community effort made possible by you.

The community truly came together to support this project. Bishop Christopher Coyne and Father Lance Harlow were kind enough to host the shelter at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral. The Community Health Centers of Burlington donated cots, and the UVM Medical Center volunteered to do laundry. The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf’s Good Food Truck and parishioners of St. Joseph’s provided many meals.

Financial support for the shelter was provided by the Argosy Foundation, UVM Medical Center, the Hoehl Family Foundation, Debra and Bill Gottesman, Vermont Federal Credit Union, an anonymous donor, Janet Farina, parishioners at Our Lady of Grace Church, and generous donors like you.

“The operation was really great. Being able to use their space was amazing” says Will about St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral. “Father Harlow, who is the priest at St. Joseph’s, came in almost every single day and helped out as well.”

When asked what he would like to tell community members, Will had this to say: “Thanks to everyone who helped support the shelter this year. You really gave people the chance to regain some stability in their lives.”

And best of all? We didn’t have to turn anybody away.

The post Everyone Had a Bed This Winter—Thanks to You. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Happy Valentine’s Day, from all of us at Spectrum. Today and every day, we are so grateful that people like you open your hearts to our youth, to make sure they have a safe place to be, a supportive community, and the help they need to thrive.

Thank you for keeping our youth in your heart.

With love and gratitude,
The Spectrum Team

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Thanks to you, ten beds line the walls at the warming shelter in downtown Burlington. The shelter opened in early November and will close at the end of March.

Thanks to you, Spectrum opens a warming shelter for the cold winter months

Last winter was rough.

With shelters full across the region and a long waiting list for Spectrum’s 25 beds, we often had to turn young people away who needed somewhere to sleep.

“It was heartbreaking having to close the Drop-In Center at night knowing that half the youth who were leaving had no place to go,” says Allie Forward, our Drop-In Youth Coordinator. “To see them lose hope and energy and feel trapped as the weather turned colder and colder was just awful.”

“If I wasn’t at the warming shelter I would probably still be sleeping in the parking garage. It’s really been a blessing. The Burlington community has been really awesome too. People are always dropping off food at nights so we always have something to eat if we’re hungry.”

A true community effort made possible by you.

Over the summer, we looked at many locations where we might launch a shelter, but it was a visit to Burlington Bishop Christopher Coyne that finally connected us to Father Lance Harlow, rector of the St. Joseph Co-Cathedral Parish in downtown Burlington, who agreed to let Spectrum use their Parish Hall this winter.

The Community Health Centers of Burlington, which runs Burlington’s adult warming shelter in the winter, gave us cots to use, and the UVM Medical Center volunteered to do laundry. The Argosy Foundation, Hoehl Family Foundation, Debra and Bill Gottesman, and other generous donors like you pitched in to fund it. The Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf brings by food from its Good Food Truck at night, and St. Joseph’s parishioners have often donated dinner.

“I’m thankful for the warming shelter because if I wasn’t there I would be sleeping outside in the freezing cold. Before I was there I didn’t even have a sleeping bag, cause someone found it and threw it away when I left my camp. And I love the staff. They are awesome, fantastic and cool.”

The warming shelter is already full, but Allie says, “We haven’t had a situation yet where youth are leaving Drop-In without a plan. And, they’re excited to go to the shelter at night. We have great staff there, there’s a TV and they can watch movies. It’s cozy.”

“Just the basic need of having a roof over your head is the most important thing in order to get other parts of your life back together,” Will Towne, our Housing Manager, says. “Whether it’s employment, physical health, mental health, getting help with substance – it’s impossible to get those in order when you don’t have anywhere consistent to go.”

This article first appeared in the Winter 2018 Spectrum Sun, a print newsletter that is available online here.

The post Ten More Beds! appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This piece was written by a young person who accesses Spectrum’s services, thanks to people like you, who keep our doors open. It is part of a series of Spectrum Youth Voices.

Dear reader,

I am nearing 21 and under the impression that society would prefer it if I had my act together, and I was nice to you and smiled when you said “hello,” even though I don’t have my act together, I don’t feel smiley, and I don’t want to say “I’m fine” when you ask me how I’m doing.

What I want to say is “horrible.” I am doing horrible because everybody is supposed to be happy around the holidays but all I feel is empty.

I grew up with a comfortable home life but, due to events I won’t go into detail about, that life was taken from me almost 3 years ago. I was thrown into a world that didn’t make sense and I had to make decisions I wasn’t qualified to make.

I had to go with my gut, and it didn’t always lead me in the best direction. So I also spent some time backtracking, so to speak.  I’m not telling you all this so you pity me; I’m telling you this so you understand me.

I’m not the only individual accessing Spectrum who has undergone significant—even traumatic—loss. I’m not the only one feeling empty or struggling with the enormous isolation brought on by all these complicated feelings.

So, reader, this is where you come in. I can’t speak for everyone, but to me, the holidays are just a big, national reminder of what’s missing and what I can’t get back.  The holidays have so much emphasis on material goods but I would give anything to have back the life I lost.

So over the next month or so, take time to hug someone a little tighter, and listen a little longer, because these are the memories that count. These are the memories that will never lose value and can never be replaced.

The post An open letter to those who don’t know how to help. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Our friends at Dealer.Com partnered with the incredible Lux Barber Shop to offer free haircuts for our youth.

Getting a haircut is often out-of-reach for youth experiencing homelessness, and this partnership to receive a professional haircut, for free, was an incredible gift.

Thank you!

Read more about the day in this article, published by Burlington Free Press.

Special thanks to Kate Vetter, Dealer.Com’s corporate social responsibility project coordinator, for organizing, and to Megan and Steve Incerto and the rest of the staff at Lux Barber Shop for donating your time and talents to make a difference.

The post How a haircut makes a big difference. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This article was written by a young person who accesses Spectrum’s services.

At the end of October, I lost a friend who was very near and dear to my heart, to almost 10 years of battling cancer. The loss is still very new, and very raw, and likely will be for many weeks if not months to come; however, it has allowed me to write this with a new perspective and determination to write from the very bottom of my heart.

As I’ve been working through my own grief process, this writing has also undergone significant changes. Through the many edits, complete re-writes and even different viewpoints being expressed, I have kept certain parts, discarded (many) others, and completely started over on more than one occasion. Although you can’t really discard or completely start over with life after loss, you can keep parts of that individual and your perspective of the world will change. As I reflected on my life and current thought process I discovered several parallels between writing and grieving.

The five stages of grief look different for everyone, as does the writing process. Some people plan out what they’re going to write and others just do it. I’m more of the wait-until-the-last-minute writer. Similarly, grief looks different on everyone.

As I said, I’m more of a just-do-it type of writer, which means I definitely wait until the last minute. It’s not that I don’t want to be writing and advocating for my peers, it’s just constantly feeling like I have more important things to do in life. Grieving isn’t much different.

I know my feelings will always be there, and this particular line of thinking leads me down two distinct paths: (1) my feelings will always be here so I should really just deal with them now and get them out of the way; or (2) my feelings will always be here so I should focus on the more impermanent things (such as school) and deal with the feelings later.

I look at these two perspectives as denial and bargaining rolled into one and they don’t get you anywhere. It really doesn’t matter how you think or what you think because the feelings are still felt. Similarly, the writing still has to get written, the only difference is how you write and what you write about.

Acceptance came when I decided I wasn’t going to write about what was easy, I was going to write about what I know.

Depression is the beginning of acceptance. In the writing process, that may look like walking away from the piece entirely. In life, it can look like isolation or engaging in risky and harmful behaviors. Many of the individuals at Spectrum, myself included, have used or currently use these coping mechanisms to try and understand why life works the way it does.

They make us feel something other than the true pain of what’s beneath the behaviors; just as watching Netflix can help you ignore the panic of writing about something no body really enjoys hearing, which is a point I’ll elaborate on a bit later; there is nothing you can do.

The final stage of just about anything you will ever do in life is acceptance. In this particular writing, acceptance came when I decided I wasn’t going to write about what was easy, I was going to write about what I know. What I know is that grief sucks, and it’s hard. I know that “I’m sorry” and “I’m here for you” doesn’t help a whole lot. I know that words aren’t helpful as the loss is still lost and the feelings are still felt.

I know that it’s okay to feel. In fact, it’s a good thing, because feelings are meant to come and go. They’re what make us, as humans, different from one another. Intense emotions and being messy are not signs of weakness and do not make you any less of an individual.

This has been a hard piece to write as it’s typically not what people like to hear in terms of supporting those close to them through a tough time, but I’ve taken that to mean this is a subject matter of great importance. I know I am just one person, and one perspective, but I hope I have shed some light on the experience and process of losing a loved one.

The post The Five Stages of Writing, Grief, and Writing about Grief appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

We wanted to let you know that our winter warming shelter for youth opened its doors for the first time this week. And it’s funded entirely by people like you.

The beds in our residences and longer-term shelter, The Landing, were full all last winter, and they’re full now. And, like last year, all of the other shelters in the area are full, too.

As Will, our supportive housing manager, put it: “I probably don’t need to tell you how hard it was to turn youth away last winter.”

But this year, thanks to generous supporters like you, we will have ten more beds during our coldest months, from November through the end of March.

Here’s a message from one of our young people: “Thank you very much. Y’all are literally saving lives. I would be dead if it weren’t for Spectrum. Thank you for keeping low-income youth alive.“

If you or someone you know (ages 18-24) needs housing this winter, call us at (802) 864-7423 x325, or, after 5 PM, (802) 324-2934.

The post Open for the winter. appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

This article was written by a young person who accesses Spectrum’s services, including our Drop-In Center and supportive housing.

In one of my 8th grade classrooms there was a map of the world with everything upside down. At least, that’s what we’ve been trained to think: north is up and south is down. In thinking about how I wanted to go about writing my first article for Spectrum, I thought about the one thing I’ve really learned in the past year and, in doing so, this map came to mind.

August 25th was exactly one year since the first time I walked into The Landing, the emergency shelter above the Drop-In Center. To say I was terrified would be a pretty significant understatement. I really didn’t have any words for anything. One person asked what my name was and I ran away in tears.

From what I could tell at the time, I was on my own. I didn’t know what was next and I really wasn’t okay with that. I made several attempts to take control over my future, many of which did not go as planned.

I signed up for classes at CCV but then dropped out, got (and then lost) a number of employment opportunities, and went from being high on life to the depths of despair in the blink of an eye.

I was pretty sure I was a failure at life so I did what I had to do to make it through each day. Correction: I did what I thought I had to do. I thought I always had to be okay. I thought I always had to smile and laugh and be happy when that really wasn’t true.

To be in the housing program at Spectrum, you are required to be working on something. Whether it be employment and building your savings, school, or yourself. I chose to work on myself so I went to a 3 week respite and, upon my return to Burlington, was in therapy twice a week for a few months.

During that time, it felt like I cried every day. I also laughed every day. Most importantly, though, I felt more and more real as time went on. Spectrum has given me the tools and space that I was lacking in order to become messy and fall apart. A place where I was accepted regardless of how messy or crumbly I was.

In just 365 days, I have made a complete 180 from where I was then. Don’t get me wrong, I am still very messy and very crumbly but now I have a vacuum to help me clean up when I need it. Which brings me back to the map I mentioned at the beginning.

Why are we, as a society, so set on a specific path to take in life? It seems so many individuals at Spectrum get thrown off by the fact that they’re not doing what they’re “supposed” to do (graduate high school, go to college, get a job, etc.) and yet nowadays the norm is to do what feels right to you.

So, if there’s one thing Spectrum demonstrates spectacularly it’s that north isn’t necessarily up.

The post Is North Really “Up”? appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

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.

Jack spoke with Charles, one young person who was homeless before he came to live in our supportive housing. Without Spectrum, Charles said, “I don’t think I’d be anywhere at this point.”

It’s thanks to the generous support of community members like you that Charles and other young people find supportive employment at Detail Works.

The post Cleaning Cars, Transforming Lives appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Emma Michalowski has been working as an intern in our supported housing programs since August 2016. She’s a senior at Champlain College working toward her BS in psychology with a minor in global studies. She’s interested in both mental health counseling and global mental health.

Emma researched and created an ongoing life-skills training program for youth in our emergency shelter, The Landing, and our transitional housing. Here are her reflections:

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. Individuals were given a set income from which they created a monthly budget that included everything they needed or wanted. These costs included housing and utilities, Internet access, insurance and transportation, and clothing, as well as non-necessity items such as a new television, a pet, and any entertainment costs.

Each youth had to spin the Wheel of Fortune/Doom to see what surprise financial event they had to incorporate in their planning. The results were either beneficial, like a birthday present, which added $10/month, or detrimental, such as having one’s hours cut, which subtracted $250/month. Some of these events could’ve been avoided by purchasing various insurance policies, just like in real life!

After the completing their budget sheet, each youth sat with a credit counselor to discuss how their budgeting went. For individuals who went over budget, they discussed the difference between what they need and what they want, and what motivated them to make their decisions. Then, they returned to the game and adjusted their budgets. Once a participant completed their monthly worksheet without going over budget, they discussed options for utilizing their remaining money to achieve their financial goals.

Many youth reflected that it helped them to think about their money in a different way. One young woman said she didn’t realize how hard it was to live independently and that the Game of Life really opened her eyes to what this entailed. Another participant said he realized his lifestyle would be really affordable if only he didn’t buy fast food and video games as often. These anecdotes are just a few of the success stories from the Game of Life. It was a fun, interactive event that gave youth at Spectrum new ideas about using their money wisely.

Another part of the program was a cooking segment, which I created to teach not only cooking skills and safety, but also for youth to practice creativity and working in teams using cooperation and effective communication.

It was also designed to show the youth they can cook healthy, fresh meals for a lower cost than buying pre-prepared food. The event was set up somewhat like the television show, “Chopped,” in that the participants were given two required ingredients, chicken and a vegetable, as well as a ‘pantry’ of items that contained various food ingredients like pasta, rice, onions, and garlic.

Youth said they had fun during the event and most of them stated they learned something new, especially in The Landing. At one house, youth learned about eating kosher from one of the other residents, and at another house, youth made four different meals so that everyone’s food restrictions (vegetarian, gluten intolerance, and a low-cholesterol diet) were addressed, so all youth could eat together.

Thank you, Emma, for working with our youth over the past year! Congratulations on your upcoming graduation.

The post The Game of Life appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.