Last week, the Baltimore Sun ran a powerful op-ed by the development director and workforce development coordinator for the Youth Empowered Society (YES Drop-In Center), an organization started by 2011 OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow Lara Law. The piece drove home the challenges that homeless young people face in building stable lives and praised employers like Starbucks, who help them do so, and get loyal long-term employees in return. Starbucks also recently collaborated with UMBC’s Choice Program, an OSI grantee, to open an “Opportunity Cafe” in East Baltimore, which offers job training to nearby residents.
The YES Drop-In Center is a safe place for youth who are homeless where they can receive help, support, and services that are ultimately designed to lead to independence. The staff work with youth to help them with things like getting identification, applying for government benefits and connecting with schools, employment opportunities or housing.
The Center was featured in an Impact Series. Learn more here.
Another OSI-Baltimore Community Fellow, Sarah Hemminger was featured on WYPR’s All Things Considered with Tom Hall, where she talked about her 2009 project, Thread, an organization that provides underperforming high school students with a family of volunteers that help with academic advancement and personal growth.
The New York Times wrote a two-part series about Thread last March. Read it here.