Street Spirit December 2005

YEAH! Provides a Safe Winter Haven for Youth

An Open Letter to Our Fellow Citizens

From the Founders of YEAH! - (Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel)

No one wants the homeless youth now living on Berkeley streets to grow up to become homeless adults living on Berkeley streets. No one should work harder at making his or her life work than the person living that life. But no one should have to do it alone.

During its four-year existence as an every-night wintertime shelter for transition-age youth, YEAH! (Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel) has become a funnel through which community good will and community skills are passed along to homeless youth. All who are connected with YEAH! believe that what they do is of far greater value than any coins they might hand over to youth living on the street.

On November 21, 2005, at 8:00 in the evening, YEAH! opened the doors of Fellowship Hall at the Lutheran Church of the Cross to street youth who had been waiting throughout the summer for the only youth shelter in Berkeley to resume its operations.

It was a familiar scene. Many young people, ages 18-25, tired, hungry and in need of a shower and a change of clothes, clustered around the doorway wanting the hot meal, the warm bed, and the welcoming smiles from people they knew who had been there for them last year.

In the weeks before opening, the ten members of the YEAH! Organizing Team worked side by side with many others who were helping with final preparations.

Nat's husband and adult children, assisted by Steve, were organizing the storage area with bins donated by Home Depot and refurbishing the shower with tiles donated by Import Tile. Families with young children helped sort toiletries given by people connected with Intuit and Good Shepherd of the Hills.

Karen, who does creative writing at YEAH!, brought 20 young volunteers from Hands on Bay Area - with "What a Difference a Day Makes" on their T-shirts - who repaired mats, repainted walls, cleaned the kitchen and sorted books side by side with several street youth.

Over 50 volunteers - students, retirees, parents, singles - who had responded to flyers, the YEAH! website, community forums, Cal Corps notices and word of mouth, had taken part in orientations and a "Talk the Walk" communications skill-building workshop led by a well-known local facilitator. They were eagerly anticipating their weekly two-hour shifts at the YEAH! facility.

During YEAH!'s first week this year, members of the First Congregational Church were signed up to prepare one evening meal and members of several Buddhist sanghas and their families were scheduled for another. Over 20 parents and children from Jack and Jill, an Oakland parents' group, came by to drop off clean socks, toothpaste and craft supplies.

Dezzette was earning class credits by greeting YEAH! guests as they arrived, but planned to stay on after fulfilling her requirements. Adrienne, Justin, Ryan and Sarah - work-study interns from the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, the Pacific School of Religion and Starr King - were committed for the school year.

Food for the coming months will be procured by Robert, who is connected with New Bridges; donations are also coming from Alameda County Food Bank, Safeway, Orowheat, Starbucks, and the Cheeseboard. Financial support from the City of Berkeley, as well as contributions from local organizations such as Union Bank, Red Oak Realty, Bayer, West Berkeley Foundation, Elixir Hair Salon and over 14 nearby churches and synagogues, make it possible to pay for experienced night-time supervisors and a clinical program directed by YEAH!'s executive director. Every dollar YEAH! receives in cash is tripled by the value of donations of time, skills and goods.

YEAH! and the entire Berkeley community are responding generously to help homeless youth get a safe nightly respite from the grunginess of wet, cold streets. Dedicated volunteers are making it possible for YEAH! to schedule evening recreational and educational activities, as well as provide home-cooked meals and friendly interactions.

Many youth, sleeping at the shelter night after night, crave long-term, sustaining relationships with caring adults.

Unexpectedly, on opening night, a young man who had slept for three years at the shelter, bringing in with him countless animals he had befriended, showed up again - to sleep for that one night only, so he could tell everyone his story. He was now living in another city; he had reunited with his brother, and was working with him at a steady job, paying rent, and raising his newborn son. He brought with him, as a gift to others in the shelter, a handsome leather dog collar and leash he had made.

Sometimes, walking along Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues, the casual observer may find it difficult to distinguish between youth who are housed and attending college and youth who are homeless and living on the street. Sometimes, the larger backpack is the giveaway. Homeless youth, with no storage space, may carry all their possessions with them. Sometimes, it's the pets. Dogs, cats, mice, birds and snakes may be street youths' most valued companions.

Housed or unhoused, these young people may be the same age, and may wear similar clothes and hair styles. But it is likely that they have very different life experiences and vastly different life prospects.

College students, for approximately four years, live and learn within a protective network of family, professors, housing, classes, extracurricular activities, adult advisors. During these years, they slowly evolve their adult identities through study, a variety of peer and adult interactions, travel, internships, and summer jobs. It's a trial-and-error period, a formative and often turbulent time in their lives.

The homeless youth sleeping at YEAH! usually have experienced poverty, violence, broken families and, perhaps, multiple foster care placements. Many do not have high school diplomas and have worked only at short-term, dead-end jobs. They are often cut off from family, from the wider adult community and from their housed peers.

They, too, are evolving their adult identities in a trial-and-error way. In their case, their interactions are primarily with one another, with the police, with emergency hospitals and with waiting to access social workers, substance abuse programs or temporary housing. Many have lived on the streets for more than two years. And street soil is not fertile enough to grow healthy and resilient adults.

Street youth usually have immediate needs for medical or psychological help in resolving their physical, mental and substance abuse issues. Over the long term, however, they need supports similar to those surrounding their college peers.

They need the equivalent of a dorm - a place where they can stay awhile before moving on, as adults, to more permanent housing. They need ongoing guidance from adults they trust: adults who have their best interests at heart, and can help them identify their own strengths and talents.

They need to acquire the credentials and skills with which to earn a living in a rapidly changing society which leaves many behind. In short, they need the citizens of Berkeley to act as their grown-up support system forming a network which welcomes them into ongoing activities, programs, events, and internships. The city of Berkeley should become their campus.

YEAH!'s experience is that Berkeley citizens have the heart and the spirit to respond to street youth - and the creative energy to invent people-to-people solutions that can work even if dollars are in short supply. Four years ago, YEAH! was born as a night-time shelter at five successive meetings. Passionate people came together and, in turn, brought in other passionate people who talked and acted until the job got done.

It is time for another Big Idea - time to bring into being the residential arrangements and the network of services, activities and relationships that can help street youth get themselves off the street for good.

As before, we need passionate people to bring in still more passionate people so that here in Berkeley we can move beyond having only a "home for the night" for the youth. We want you and your ideas. Let us know if you are willing to attend a meeting or two.

With many thanks for everything you have already done.

Adrianne Bank, Sarah Isakson, Natalie Leimkuhler, Sharon Hawkins Leyden: YEAH! Founding Members

E-mail comments and suggestions to Yeahvolunteers@yahoo.com. Send tax deductible contributions to YEAH!, 1744 University Ave., Berkeley CA, 94703. Look at our website: www.Yeah-berkeley.org.

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