Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:59:00
 |
| Article by:
Nicola Pau
|
|
|
 Nicole Garroute - Photo by Mathew Wakefield. |
|
|
|
By Nicola Pau
Larkin Street Youth Services is more than just a shelter – it is a “home” where homeless youths have an opportunity to live in a better place.
Founded in 1984 as a neighborhood effort to help San Francisco’s most vulnerable youth – homeless and runaway ages 12-24 in the Tenderloin and Polk Gulch areas of San Francisco – Larkin Street has served more than 70,000 youth since it opened. The organization’s programs address the urgent needs youth have for housing, food and security, while also encouraging their participation in essential support services that offer the skills and resources needed to help them reach their full potential and keep them off the streets for good.
Presently, Larkin Street is a globally-recognized leader providing innovative, efficient housing, medical, social and educational services to at-risk youth across 25 programs and 13 sites throughout the city. It sets the standard in providing this type of care, not only in San Francisco, but also across the country.
“We want to give them a ‘home’ … a home where these kids have ‘parents’ who take good care of them, and to offer them supportive services they need, such as life skills, education and employment access and so on,” said Nicole Garroutte, associate director of Development, Events and Communication for Larkin Street.
According to Garroutte, the key programs offered include an assisted care program, which was the nation’s first licensed residential care center for HIV positive youth between the ages of 18-25; the Lark-Inn for Youth, the only emergency shelter in San Francisco for youth ages 18-24; comprehensive housing and supportive services to former foster care youth in San Francisco through the LEASE program; and finally, Routz, an innovative housing and intensive support program for youth with serious mental health problems.
According to 2008-2009 organization numbers, Larkin Street engaged more than 3,600 homeless and runaway youth in services and its housing programs kept youth off the streets for 86,064 nights. Also, 113 youth re-engaged in education by enrolling at Larkin Street’s on-site high school.
In 2009, Larkin Street assisted 96 formerly homeless kids to enroll in post-secondary education including San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, Golden Gate University, Los Angeles City College, Portland State University and Heald College. Eighty percent of youth who completed Larkin Street’s comprehensive programs left street life during 2009.
Success stories
Kids who participated in Larkin Street’s programs transformed into successful young adults. Justin and Ida are two of those youth:
Justin spent four homeless months in Golden Gate Park, where he survived mainly on berries and twigs. As he came to Larkin Street Youth Services, he was wearing a white shirt that had turned brown from street life. He spent quite a few months living in Larkin Street housing.
After learning job readiness skills and receiving vocational guidance at Larkin Street’s HIRE UP program, Justin received a Larkin Street scholarship and pursued culinary studies at City College, while working part-time at a Marina restaurant. Recently he left Larkin Street with an attractive job and a new white monogrammed jacket.
As a young kid, Ida’s parents struggled with drug addictions and both had been diagnosed as HIV-positive. After entering the child welfare system, Ida lived in five different places, both in group homes and with foster parents, before emancipating at the age of 18.
Ida became homeless at age 22 when she left an abusive relationship and had no places to go. She came to the Lark-Inn for Youth – Larkin Street’s emergency shelter for youth ages 18-24 – where she lived for four months while working to stabilize her life and develop a plan for her future. From there, Ida graduated successfully to one of Larkin Street’s transitional living programs for older age youth, Avenues To Independence. Today, at age 24, Ida is employed full-time by a local grocery store, a job that Larkin Street helped her to sustain for the last six months.
Source: 2007 Annual Report
|
