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Avenues to Independence
Turning 18 does not magically make a person ready to plunge into adulthood. Even
a young adult who has had the benefit of a safe home and caring family
needs additional guidance on the way to successful maturity. Imagine
how much more support a kid without those benefits -- a kid who has had
nowhere to go but the streets -- must need.
Larkin Street Youth Services provides a way toward self-sufficiency for youth aged 18 to 24 through Avenues to Independence (ATI). ATI assists young adults as they step from adolescence to adulthood by offering comprehensive services along with stable long-term housing. Prior to entering ATI, the residents are either marginally housed, living on the streets, staying at an emergency shelter, or in foster care services. The majority of residents enter the program with very few practical life skills, minimal job history or transferable skills, little to no emotional support, and are sometimes struggling with substance abuse and/or mental health issues. ATI is designed to be the final step in each youth’s transition to independent living. ATI strives to eliminate homelessness by engaging youth, teaching them life skills, and helping them build self-esteem and healthy, life-long habits to support their independence. The program addresses a youth’s current need for housing while preventing future episodes of homelessness. ATI attempts to model real world situations at all possible times in order to foster the independence and life skills necessary for success when its residents leave the program. Residents of ATI live as any young adult would, paying rent, working or training for careers, and completing their educations through GED courses or college classes. The only difference is that they are doing it all after the trauma of street life. Counselors model life skills such as budgeting and taking good care of themselves and their homes. By the end of their time at ATI, they not only have housing and job prospects, but also community and self-determination. When they are ready to move forward into their new lives, their ATI rent payments are refunded to give them a head start on promising new adult lives.
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