“We purchased the building for Labadie Lofts in 2019 and have created 10 apartments for kids 18 to 22-years-old who have aged out of foster care and have no other place to go.
We will charge them extremely affordable rent with the idea that we want them to set money aside towards their future. We're going to do case management, put together a budget and a life plan, and start to figure out where their skills are. What do they like? What are their interests?
For kids who have been at risk, there are all kinds of opportunities out there and available to them. The majority of them should be able to go to college if they want to, and to be able to have scholarship assistance. The opportunities are out there, so it's just about connecting them with the opportunity. Maybe it's vocational training, maybe it's learning specific skills, or maybe doing a four-year college plan.
We already have units filled, and we're continuing to build relationships to get the word out so young people know that it's here and available for them. I really believe that long term, we're going to find that this is a critical need within the community and becomes a model that people will want to replicate because it’s a critical piece preventing following generations from experiencing homelessness.
It’s also important that those 10 young people can identify with a sense of community. The Bay County community is a great place to live, and having people around you that believe in you and that you can trust is important. We're going to foster that by having dinner once a week where they all help fix it together. In one part, we are teaching nutritional eating, but at the same time, there's socialization. Then we'll also have opportunities to go out and see things like a Loons game, or we'll go to a Saginaw Spirit game, or go to a concert, or a movie together. It’s providing socialization and a place of belonging that will just help them to want to invest and be here even longer. It’s more than just providing a safe place, but it's also trying to teach new habits and how to connect people.”
– Dan Streeter, Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan
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Special Education Aide at Green Dot Public Schools California
1moI have a B.A but no teaching credential for Special Education