End The Cycle of Youth Homelessness

“Do not let anyone tell you otherwise: Youth homelessness is a socially determined problem, and solving it is not beyond this nation’s resources and abilities.”

Sobering Statistics

• 1.7 million U.S. youth experience homelessness every year.
• 50,000 youth sleep on the streets for six months or more each year.
• One in every five children between ages 10 and 18 will run away.
• Up to 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ.
• Every day, 13 at-risk youth will die due to assault, illness, or suicide trying to survive on the streets – that’s approximately 5,000 per year.
• About one-quarter of youth experience homelessness within a year of aging out of the foster care system.
• Compared to housed youth, homeless youth are 75% more likely to self-medicate and abuse substances to deal with trauma.

Our Impact

Every year since 1990, StandUp For Kids has the privilege of working with hundreds if not thousands of youth under the age of 25. In 2016, we served 1,044 individuals unaccompanied and 472 young homeless families, providing separate instances of support. We also provided 15,501 meals or grocery bags and assisted 229 youth with housing. Our volunteers gave more than 43, 000 hours of their time.

To engage in our mission of ending the cycle of youth homelessness, we provide basic and ongoing resources in the form of Street Outreach, Outreach Centers, Apartment Support and Mentoring. We are proud of the fact that our volunteer teams and staff build trust and become a consistent resource to stabilize and otherwise help those youth that the rest of society ignored. Some work behind the scenes as unsung heroes and others are out front, serving as counselors and helping youth map out plans to get out of the cyclical nature of homeliness they are caught in, helping guide them to independence, education and self-sufficiency.

How You Can Help

Youth homelessness will only end when everyone rolls up their sleeves and harvests their contributions. You can provide the greatest help by offering monetary donations and volunteering your time. For every $1 received, StandUp For Kids allocates 84 cents directly to local and national programs to provide: Meals, Mental Health Services, Housing Support, Employment Support, Education and Youth Activities. Our programs need volunteers and mentors to assist in furthering our mission to end youth homelessness.

Learn more about StandUp For Kids at www.standupforkids.org.

Support StandUp For Kids through your employee giving program:

As StandUp For Kids’ workplace giving partner, America’s Charities can help your company design and implement a program centered on supporting their work – through workplace giving campaigns, employee fundraising, cause-focused signature programs, volunteerism, donation drives, matching gifts, Dollars-for-Doers, In-Kind Giving and other employee engagement and philanthropic initiatives. Click here to request a demo and learn how we can help you do this.