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3/1/2012
Greetings,
I recently attended (thanks to a generous sponsor) the National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness, hosted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. One of the founders of the NAEH, Susan Baker, opened the conference with “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I thought, “I am in good company.” That is true for us as an agency too. Community interest continues to grow.

A year ago, Fairbanks Youth Advocates was only a dream. Now we have a presence, a purpose, a mission. It is with a grateful heart that I update you on our progress towards opening The Door, an emergency shelter for youth in need of short-term shelter, here in the Interior of Alaska.
What we’re up to:
  • We received our first AmeriCorps VISTA in November. Sarah Smith, a Floridian, did not miss a beat and hit the ground running, becoming invaluable to us.
  • We’re waiting to hear about the renovation of the facility through the Community Development Block Grant. We should hear any day now.
  • We’ve submitted a grant proposal for operations and critical staff.
  • We attended the National Alliance to End Homelessness conference in February, learning more about recent research, other youth shelters and their success stories.
  • We walked through our facility with State Licensing and Behavioral Health people, to get ideas on shelter design.
  • Wrote our five-year sustainable business plan.
  • Launched onto the web with a facebook pagetwitter account, and a blog on our new website.
  • We will be getting the word out about The Door (the name of the shelter) during community-wide events throughout the summer,
  • We will host several events this year including an Open House in November in honor of National Homeless Youth Awareness Month,
  • We are working towards our purpose: to connect youth with community resources, as well as providing gap services, such as temporary housing.
We have aggressive but achievable goals, with our immediate focus of opening The Door, an emergency shelter, in January 2013. Our emphasis is on reconciliation with familial adults, based on research-established best practice.

Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Sincerely,
Marylee