A local nonprofit organization, Open Doors for Youth, will be holding an informational meeting this Wednesday, October 11, at the Big Lake Community room, which is located in between the Big Lake Library and the Big Lake Police Station.
Open Doors for Youth is committed to helping young adults age 16-24 experiencing homelessness. They opened in 2015 and operate a drop-in center in Elk River. Their outreach includes working with local schools, including Big Lake Public Schools.
The purpose of the upcoming meeting is to educate community members and leaders about what homelessness looks like in Central Minnesota. There aren’t many housing options for homeless teens and adults in the area, and so homelessness looks different than it would in the metro area. Usually, teens and young adults will couch-hop if they don’t have a home, staying with friends for extended periods of time. Sometimes, these young adults will opt to sleep in their vehicles. Less often they will choose to sleep at a park, or in a shed or outbuilding.
Sometimes these young adults will be able to get a job, find an apartment, and pay rent. Unfortunately, these individuals are often living paycheck to paycheck, and so a large expense, such as car trouble, or a medical bill, will cause them to fall behind on their rent payments, and they are evicted, leading back into the same cycle of homelessness.
Young adults experiencing homelessness will often cycle quickly through several forms of housing and living situations.
The lack of housing options in the area, as well as a lack of public transportation, lead to more difficulties for homeless youths. Open Doors for Youth, as well as other organizations, are looking to address some of these problems, but it will take time and effort to offer homeless teens and adults viable options.
In the meantime, young adults are encouraged to stop by the Elk River drop-in location, located at 554 3rd St. NW, or else call the organization at 763-441-1473.
Since opening, Open Doors for Youth has helped 427 youths during over 6.500 visits. Executive Director Cindy Ley said in addition to helping these young adults, the organization’s main goal right now is to raise awareness about homelessness for youths, and dispel myths about homelessness. For example, some people might believe that teens and young adults become homeless because they are troubled, or are troublemakers. In reality, these young adults come from difficult family situations, are caught in generational poverty, or are coming out of the foster care system with few support systems to help them in early adulthood. The sad truth is that sometimes these young adults feel safer being homeless than living with their families.
Warning signs that a young adult might be experiencing homelessness include:
• Being absent or late to school;
• Falling behind in school;
• Sleeping during class;
• Lingering for a long time after school;
• Lots of trips to visit the school nurse;
• Transferring between many different schools;
• Staying with different family members and friends.
Young adults may be reluctant to confess that anything is wrong, but Open Doors for Youth is dedicated to providing hope to young adults needing help.
