THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH PROGRAMS

The Bridge for Youth serves over a thousand youth and their families each year, offering a full continuum of services from hotline and emergency services to longer term housing, with life skills and career development. Our services are available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

PREVENTION AND FAMILY REUNIFICATION

The most effective way to prevent youth homelessness is to reunify youth and their families and help them develop the skills to work through conflicts before they reach the breaking point. The Bridge for Youth staff offers individual and family counseling to help support families.

CRISIS

Emergency Shelter

Seventeen bed crisis shelter for youth ages 10-17, open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Family Counseling

Comprehensive family reunification counseling and other services for youth in the crisis shelter. Last year, over 600 families - many with children staying in our Emergency Shelter - relied on the free, professional family counseling provided at The Bridge.

Phone Hotline

24/7 telephone crisis counseling to youth, parents, and other persons concerned about a youth. Our counselors responded to 4,568 calls last year.

Street Outreach

Many young people in need are found only through direct outreach and intervention on the streets of Minneapolis and surrounding communities. Street Outreach workers, in collaboration with Streetworks, provide information and referrals, basic needs supplies and mobile case management services for precariously housed or homeless youth.

HOUSING: TRANSITION TO HEALING

Transitional Housing

Fourteen units of on-site transitional living for youth ages 16-20 who are either homeless or aging out of foster care. Last year, 29 youth were housed through this program.

Independent Living Housing

Twenty-four units of scattered-site permanent supportive housing for youth ages 17-20, including pregnant and parenting youth.

Health Program

The Bridge for Youth has a licensed public health nurse on staff to conduct health education, assessments and coordinate follow-up health care for homeless and street youth. Our health program includes a health assessment within 24 hours of arrival in our residential programs, education on sexual health, chronic health conditions, nutrition and fitness, referrals for dental, medical or mental health, or chemical dependency treatment.

Youth and Family Counseling

Professional counseling for youth and families is available at no charge; offered both on-site and in-home. Our counselors provided 2,884 free counseling sessions to youth and families last year.

SUPPORT: REBUILDING STABLE LIVES

Transitional Living Programs

Support groups and individualized support services are offered for youth who have been in our shelter or other programs.

Building healthy relationships and living in the community are the first steps toward stability. Job and education counseling, computer labs, rental and life skills support all help youth learn the routines and habits of a productive life, supporting their education, work and housing goals.

Youth Empowerment in Action (YEA)

YEA reaches youth in our residential programs, support programs and in our community housing in surrounding neighborhoods. With a strong youth development focus, this program offers individual and group counseling, workshops, leadership and enrichment activities and trips for clients of The Bridge for Youth who are working on maintaining stable lives. This program is offered at our campus and at area schools. Specific groups are organized for young men, young women, GLBT youth, and youth dealing with chemical dependency. Annual retreats and opportunities for peer counseling are also offered. Additionally, a support group for parents of teenagers is offered weekly.

Results

75% of youth served in our shelter reunification program were safely reunited with family and 12% exited to a non-family, safe alternative.
95% of exiting Transitional Living Program participants moved into stable housing.
With staff support, 16 youth maintained subsidized off-site apartments through the Independent 365 Program, with 100% re-signing their own lease or exiting to other stabel housing.

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