AYA YOUTH COLLECTIVE

We envision a community where every youth in crisis has access to housing and resources to facilitate their thriving, disrupting cycles of poverty, and serving as a gold standard for youth engagement.
5 Year Targets:
1. $4M Raised per year
2. 100 Housing Units Accessed through AYA homes, DCT transfers, Rapid Re-Housing, and more.
3. 700 Members at Drop-in
4. 90% of youth in housing attaining Long Term Stability
5. 350 Youth attain "Thriving" per year - we measure this through the Brief Inventory of Thriving, which helps determine a broad range of contructs that point to the ability to function and future health outcomes. "The comprehensive version has 54 items divided over seven domains which cover 18 subscales: Relationship (support, community, trust, respect, loneliness, belonging), Engagement, Mastery (skills, learning, accomplishment, self-efficacy, self-worth), Autonomy (control), Meaning (meaning and purpose), Optimism, Subjective Well-Being (life satisfaction, positive feelings, negative feelings)."

Our organization utilitzes many strategies in order to best serve youth. AYA engages in this critical work by curating a continuum of youth-specific services from prevention to various interventions. Providing a streamlined, one-stop-shop for youth to engage in services and be connected to housing resources is crucial in changing the trajectory of their lives. We do this through two primary avenues: our drop-in center, and our long-term supportive housing program. At our drop-in center, basic needs (i.e. showers, laundry, food, hygiene items) are met and trust is built with AYA staff, allowing youth the opportunity to engage in various supports like vital document recovery, education and employment resources, transportation, housing assessment and referral, and culturally appropriate therapy, health care, and wellness activities. Through AYA's, non-time-limited supportive housing model, we offer 26 units with affordable rent at one of our 8 homes scattered across Kent County. At each home, a high-capacity volunteer (a.k.a a House Mentor) lives in a separate unit, ready to support and encourage youth in their transition from homelessness to stability. They provide guidance as youth navigate real-world challenges while creating a sense of community through weekly house dinners and holiday celebrations.

Our approach is found at the intersection of several models: positive youth development, authentic relationship building, harm-reduction, and trauma-informed and healing-centered care. Pushing beyond a simple understanding of the impacts of trauma towards models that promote healing and thriving, staff support youth in identifying their goals and realizing their dreams. This creates ample opportunity to reduce risk through education and non-judgemental, engaging conversation around numerous “difficult” topics (i.e. gang involvement, safe sex, religious practices/beliefs, etc). We do not expect to immediately be trusted confidants but rather we show up consistently, creating spaces to try new things and “fail” without judgment. When the youth is ready to explore the resources available to them, the very staff they have built trust with are there, ready to support them through the complicated process. These authentic relationships allow for deep conversation, interactive activities, written evaluations, and an engaged youth action board, allowing us to pivot and evolve our services and approach as needed.

3:11 Youth Housing and Grand Rapids HQ have come together to form A.Y.A. Youth Collective, an organization providing circles of support for youth facing homelessness. Housing insecurity is complex, and we have partnered for years to address its many dimensions. As a unified organization, we have the capacity to create a more connective, cohesive experience for young people on their journey toward housing and stability.

AYA consistently serves more youth than any other organization in West Michigan, despite a global pandemic that closed many nonprofits and forced others to pull back their services, we remained a steady and stable support in the community. The sheer number of youth served, and specifically, the number of youth engaging in mental and behavioral health supports during this time is an incredible indicator of both the ongoing need but also our ability to authentically engage youth as leaders, staying nimble and developing policies and processes that are both youth-centered and evidence-based.

65+ YOUTH HOUSED
Since 2012, we have housed over 65 youth. Currently we can house 27 youth at a time in our transitional housing program.

STABLE HOUSING
93% of youth in our transitional housing resource find safe and stable housing of their own or reunite with family.

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
100% of youth in our transitional housing resource are engaged in community meals, learning valuable life skills and conflict resolution.

GOAL SETTING
100% of youth in our transitional housing resource are engaged in goal setting, tracking their progress as they move towards healthy interdependence.

EDUCATION & EMPLOYMENT
90% of youth in housing have obtained full-time employment, entered and completed trade school, and/or pursued higher education.

UNIQUE MEMBERS
Over 1,600 youth have become members at our Drop-In Center.

CONNECTION POINTS 2021:
Rapport Building - 36.4%
Basic Needs - 30.7%
Health and Wellness - 8.8%
Housing - 7.9%
Other - 4.8%
Transportation - 4.2%
Employment - 3.3%
Vital Documents - 3%
Education - .9%