youth and young adults committee – Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness Blog

Recap: Youth and Young Adults 11/10/15 meeting: Seattle Public Library Programs and Partnership Opportunties

November 18, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

Big thanks to Shelley Mastalerz and Summer Hayes from the Seattle Central Library’s Children’s and Teen Services for joining us at our YYAC meeting last Tuesday, November 10! At the meeting, Shelley and Summer shared with us some of the current events/opportunities that the Seattle Public Library (SPL) hosts, and some opportunities for developing community partnerships. Every Thursday afternoon, from 3pm-5pm, the Central Library hosts a youth drop-in, put on by a partnership between the Library and New Horizons Ministries. This time was created to fill a gap in time where drop-in hours were not available at New Horizons. SPL is seeking to expand programs such as this, and we enjoyed discussing what this growth could look like. Some of the ideas from the group included advertising the resource by visiting current drop-in centers and passing on the word, creating an easily accessible resource center as part of the Teen Center, diversifying available activities, and offering incentives for youth to visit the Teen Center during Thursday drop-in times. Shelley and Summer hope to form more community partnerships and work with youth and young adult service providers, so please reach out to them with ideas, questions, or to work towards beginning a partnership with them. Contact the Seattle Public Library’s Children’s and Teen Services with teencenter[at]spl[dot]org. Thanks again, Shelley and Summer! Member updates from the meeting: Trevor with Friends of Youth: Drop-in hours at Friends in Youth are changing from the previous time of 11am-2pm to a later time of 2pm-5pm. Matthew with United Way: United Way will be housing a youth Community Resource Exchange on January 28, 2016. Programming and resources for this exchange are being developed. If you have ideas, questions or suggestions, please reach out to Matthew at mridgeway[at]uwkc[dot]org. Coalition updates from the meeting: 2016 will be a year of case manager trainings: If you’re …

Julia’s reflection on the 2015 Homeless and Formerly Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit

February 17, 2021October 20, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

Six weeks into my internship with the Coalition on Homelessness, and my experiences have been above and beyond any of my expectations a month ago. Two weeks ago, I was excited to be a part of the 10th Annual Homeless and Formerly Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit (October 5-6, 2015). While doing advocacy work in Minnesota, I learned that I would constantly learn and grow by witnessing folks advocate around issues that impact their lives, and my time at the Youth Advocacy Summit proved to be no exception to this rule! Having just supported the Coalition’s 2015 Voter Registration drive, one of the highlights of the Summit for me was witnessing young people choosing to participate in advocacy by exercising their right to vote. Over the course of the Summit, I was particularly excited to watch people think in a different, new way about voting. On the first day of the Summit, one participant was pretty vocal in their choice to not register to vote, feeling that their vote wasn’t enough to make change. Through conversations with other Summit participants, discussions about our elected officials in city and county government, and time to reflect, this participant changed their mind and decided to register! They are ready to have their voice heard in the upcoming election, and will do so through their vote as well as their conversations with Councilmembers during and beyond the Youth Advocacy Summit. Participants at the Youth Advocacy Summit took on no small task! I was impressed by these advocates’ commitment over two very full days (three days for Peer Leaders!) of discussing some of the hard work that needs to be done in this community. Advocates worked on and presented one of four issues throughout the Summit: 1 – Need for an increase in the numbers of available permanent and affordable housing units 2 – Issues specifically impacting People of …

Recap: Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee Meeting — June 9, 2015

June 10, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

On Tuesday the Youth & Young Adults Committee received training on Hepatitis (HCV) from Chelsea Amato with the Hepatitis Education Project. Besides delivering an incredibly informative training, Chelsea’s given us access to her entire presentation plus additional resources. Best of all, the good folks at Hepatitis Education project are always open to do workshops and testing for agency staff and/or our youth participants — do not hesitate to reach out and continue these conversations back at your respective agencies. Hepatitis_Basic Overview Presentation Hepatitis Support Group*: HEP Monthly Meet-Up Quarter Sheet Fact Sheets from HCV Advocate can be found at www.hcvadvocate.org National Hepatitis Corrections Network (NHCN) – www.hcvinprison.org *Hepatitis Education Project hosts an evening Monthly Meet-Up (support group) every 1st Thursday of the month. If you’d like to receive email updates about the Meet-Up and any other events, be sure to contact Chelsea (chamato@hepeducation.org; 206-732-0311). She and her colleagues are happy to answer questions, take your referrals, provide testing and training at your agencies. To reach Chelsea and the Hepatitis Education Project Crew: Chelsea L. Amato, BSW HEP Advocate and Educator 911 Western Ave. #302 ● Seattle, WA 98104 ● 206-732-0311 ● 206-732-0312 (fax) www.hepeducation.org ● www.hcvinprison.org ● Find us on Facebook! Join us next month on July 14 for a training on Naloxone, and to dig into 2015 Homeless Youth Advocacy Summit preparations. See you then!

Youth and Young Adults Committee Recap from March 12, 2015 Meeting: YYA Job Opportunities

March 12, 2015 by Alison Eisinger

Back in the Fall at the Youth Advocacy Summit, youth advocates organized around creating access full time paid employment instead of just unpaid or short term internships (while they are great experience, they don’t provide as much stability). This week we discussed some opportunities including working with Real Change, education and training through Career Pathways, and the Living Wage Green Internships campaign! (read more below!) We also elected new co-chairs: Michael (HEYO) and Emily (PSKS) we’re excited to have you in the fun leadership role! And Hatlo, we’re fortunate that you were a co-chair with great leadership and glad to still see you at meetings and events. (Drum roll…)We are excited about bills that made it past a very important cutoff in Olympia!!! The Homeless Youth Act (Senate & House), Extended Foster Care (Senate & House), Homeless Student Stability Act (House), and Youth Equality and Reintegration (YEAR) Act (Senate) made it out of their perspective chambers and will now be heard in the other chamber. Thanks for making calls, and we encourage you to call your legislators to thank them for their work. See more on our legislative tracker blog post. Here are the opportunities we talked about: Job Opportunity: Sell papers on a flexible schedule with Real Change, presenter: Jerred Clouse, Vendor Program Supervisor, jerredc@realchangenews.org Real Change is a three part program. (1) newspaper that has won many national awards and collaborates with local organizations such as Mockingbird for articles. (2) Vendor program and circulation of paper. (3) Awesome advocacy work organizing at a local and state level (you’ve probably heard of their OutsideIn campaign). Related to youth and young adults, their Vendor Program is open to people 18+ years old, and is very flexible, accessible, and independent. They’re doing a lot of outreach to involve and engage with YYA who are interested …

Queer Youth Healthcare Fair Sunday Nov. 16th

November 13, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Our friends at Seattle Counseling Services and HEYO are hosing a Queer Youth Healthcare Fair this SUNDAY the 16th at the Seattle Downtown Central Library from 2-5pm. Please spread this information to your networks, clients, guests, and the community by printing & posting or emailing the flyer and this message from SCS! There will be FREE HIV testing, FREE food, #MYHIVMOMENT photo booth, and in-person healthcare navigators available to answer questions and help individuals enroll in qualified healthcare plans. Everyone is welcome to this event!

Youth Housing Connection: Two dates to celebrate 1 Year for YHC!

September 15, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Attention Youth and Young Adults Committee members and other interested parties: Here are two opportunities this month to celebrate one year of great work by the Youth Housing Connection (YHC) and to offer valuable feedback about changes and next steps for their second year. Wednesday, September 17 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. Tukwila Community Center (12424 42nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98168) OR Wednesday, September 24 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. 2100 Building (2100 24th Ave S, Seattle) Join the Committee to End Homelessness and the YHC team for YHC at Year One: Learnings and Reorientation to review lessons learned, correct misconceptions, and review opportunities for community feedback and training.This event is open to all stakeholders, community members and service providers, but funders, agency leadership, supervisors and front line staff are especially encouraged to attend. We hope you will be able to make it!

Youth and Young Adults Committee Recap from August 12, 2014 Meeting — Take Action!

August 20, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

Thanks to all who came to the Youth and Young Adults Committee’s (YYAC) August meeting! Folks from Teen Feed, YouthCare, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR), End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC), New Horizons, Seattle Youth Ministries (SYM), Youth Housing Connection, Auburn Youth Resources, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and ROOTS joined to discuss and plan the upcoming Youth Advocacy Summit, a project of the YYAC. Be sure to mark your calendar for the Summit: September 22-23, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Seattle City Hall’s Bertha Knight Landes room. _________________ About the Youth Advocacy Summit … The Youth Summit was designed to be a meaningful entry into civic engagement for young people who have already experienced disenfranchisement. The Coalition and YYAC work to make sure that the people who are directly affected by public policies are part of dialogue, debate, and decision-making. The Youth Summit is an exciting and important way to: Engage young people in expressing their opinions, identifying priorities, and speaking up powerfully Inform local decision-makers who often don’t hear from youth or people who are homeless or struggling to stay housed Support active and informed participation in democracy to make sure that Everyone Counts! TAKE ACTION! As members of Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee, your role is to work with youth participants to shape the summit, and to connect it to on-going advocacy and public education about Seattle and King County budget processes. As staff, we need your help to recruit and train peer leaders to help with facilitation, and support young people in communicating effectively about their issues to local elected officials and government staff. HELP RECRUIT PEER LEADERS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit_Peer Leaders Recruitment Flyer to help recruit peer leaders. HELP RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit Flyer to help recruit participants and spread the word! Additionally, we need your help to secure food …

The Importance of the Affordable Care Act for Youth & Young Adults

March 11, 2014 by Alison Eisinger

The deadline of March 31 for signing up for the Affordable Care Act is quickly approaching. However, if you are eligible for Medicaid, you can enroll at anytime, and do not have to meet the March 31 deadline. Our Youth & Young Adult Committee learned this, and much more from Tabitha Jensen, Executive Director of Teen Feed, who came to their meeting this morning and gave a presentation on the importance of signing up young people for the Affordable Care Act. If you are interested in learning more, you can see her presentation: Teen Feed Youth & Young Adult Healthcare Presentation. Also, please join us for our next meeting on Tuesday, April 8 from 10-11:30am at the Capitol Hill Public Library or on any first Tuesday of the month.

Huge Success for Youth! But there’s still work to be done.

February 20, 2013 by Alison Eisinger

It is true, bipartisanship really does still exist! The 72-hour notification bill (SB 5147/HB 1250), one of the Coalition’s legislative priorities, passed the Senate unanimously and easily passed in the House this past week with only seven voting against it. This bill sought to reinstate an important part of the Becca Bill which gave youth shelters up to 72 hours to notify a youth’s guardian after she or he checked into a youth shelter. Because the law “sunset,” the number of hours before a shelter staff person had to contact authorities suddenly decreased from three days to only eight hours. Eight hours is not enough time for the adult staff working at a shelter to engage with youth and be able to develop rapport. Many youth come to shelters after they have run away from disturbed or dangerous family situations, and they need time to feel secure, calm down, and assess their options in a safe place. Thanks to the legislators of our State, youth will now be less likely to avoid shelters for fear that their families, police, or child protective services will be alerted right away. Advocates are now asking Governor Jay Inslee to sign the bill into law on Youth Advocacy Day this Friday, February 22, to show the youth of Washington State that their governor and legislators are behind them. Even though we have a very exciting win, our advocacy does not stop here. As Youth Advocacy Day approaches, one of the Coalition’s priorities, the Youth Opportunities Act (HB 1651 / SB 5689 ), is still under consideration. Currently Washington is one of only eight states that makes juvenile records open to the public and available to be published online. This means that people with criminal records from their youth, before the age of 18, are subject to additional barriers accessing …

2012 Youth and Young Adult Summit: Democracy at Work

October 10, 2012 by Alison Eisinger

Many people begin their internships with standard orientation procedures like familiarizing yourself with your computer, the filing system, office supplies and setting up voicemail and email. Not me – I spent my first day of my United Church of Christ Social Justice Internship with SKCCH at the Coalition’s Youth and Young Adult Advocacy Summit and I could not have asked for a better introduction to this small but mighty organization. I was extremely inspired by the 25 youth and young adults who participated in the Summit on September 10-11 and I left each day far more educated on the struggles displaced youth and young adults face because I spoke with them directly about it. It was amazing to have the opportunity to sit down with these young people and listen to the inventive solutions they came up with that could solve their daily struggles. I could not have learned all I did in those two days even if I had sat at a desk for weeks reading up on issues affecting young people who are homeless. On day one of the Youth Summit, the participants, with support from peer leaders and service providers came up with four priorities after rounds of voting and then divided themselves into groups as to which priority they felt most passionate about. The priorities for this year were: Housing Transportation Shelter Employment Each group then came up with key talking points and solutions that they wanted to present to the city council member who they would be talking to on the second day. A detailed outline of these points and solutions is below. 2012 Priorities: Homeless Youth and Young Adult Summit On the first day we also had some amazing speakers present at the summit including Josh Hicks, Jim Theofolis, Steve Daschle, Kim Jones and …