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Diamond Youth Shelter
All homelessness is shocking. Every time you pass a kid who lives on the
street, you can imagine the potential that is being lost. It is especially
heartbreaking to see the youngest of these kids, the ones who are only
12
or 15 or 17, who should be home with families that are instead unwilling
or
unable to guide them through their adolescent years.
Kids who are 12 to 17 years old and living on the streets experience the same risks and challenges as the older clients served by Larkin Street Youth Services, but they have different needs because of their young age. In response, we offer special programs for underage youth. The first thing anyone on the streets needs is a safe place to sleep. Young people need shelter among others of their own age, under the care of stable adults. Larkin Street Youth Services offers them this respite at our Diamond Youth Shelter. The Diamond Youth Shelter is an emergency shelter. It is considered temporary not because the kids will be returning to the street, but because there staff can help them either to reunite with family or to find an appropriate housing situation. We provide youth with a bed, food, new clothes, showers, laundry services, lockers and crisis counseling. Staff members stabilize the youth by providing these basic necessities and then encourage them to access other services at the Drop-In Center. Kids often access Diamond late at night during a crisis situation. When a kid first comes to the Shelter, LSYS staff conduct an individual intake to determine that all of his or her immediate needs are identified and met. Counselors can then contact parents or guardians to assure them of the child’s safety and to determine whether reunification is a possibility. Diamond Youth Shelter is more than just a warm bed for the youngest kids on the streets of our city. It is their launching pad to better plans for long and productive futures.
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