Programs  >  Point of Entry

Outreach

Larkin Street estimates that 5,700 youth find themselves without a safe place to call home each year in San Francisco.

For many kids living on the street, Larkin Street Youth Services’ Outreach Program is their first contact with caring adults who can help them change their lives. Larkin Street’s Outreach Program brings critical services to the youth where they are, on the streets of San Francisco’s toughest neighborhoods: the Tenderloin, the Mission District, Polk Gulch, Civic Center, Haight Ashbury, Castro, SOMA. This is where these vulnerable at- risk youth face the problems of street life, but it is also where the solution starts. Larkin Street’s outreach services provide crisis intervention services, health education, HIV prevention education as well as giving youth emotional support, personal hygiene items, and referrals to help. Larkin Street’s trained outreach workers provide at a critical time the help kids on the street need to begin their journey toward a brighter future.

So many of these young people have been abandoned and betrayed by the important adults in their lives. It is understandably difficult for them to build trust. Therefore, outreach workers are always respectful and consistent, providing a visible presence on the streets every night. We make it as easy as possible for kids to take advantage of the help that we offer by providing transportation to other Larkin Street sites — including emergency shelter, medical care, and drop-in services — in our outreach van. Educational materials are available in Spanish as well as English, to reach as many youth as possible.

Some of the young people our outreach workers encounter on the street are not yet ready to enter Larkin Street’s other programs, but they are not left behind. Our staff continue to follow-up with kids still living on the street, checking in on them, providing additional information as they are ready, and reminding them of appointments with service providers.

Our Outreach Team serves as an introduction to the many ways Larkin Street can help them reach their potential as productive adults. The trust we build through our Outreach Program encourages these young people to take the next step toward a new life off the streets.

Each year, Larkin Street’s Outreach Team makes over 11,000 contacts with youth living on the streets of San Francisco.

Drop-In Center: Day time services on Sutter Street

The homeless and at-risk youth who come to Larkin Street Youth Services for help have many difficulties to overcome before they can rebuild their lives. But before they can begin to benefit from the full range of youth programs Larkin Street offers, they must have their most basic needs taken care of. They need nutritious food and basic medical attention to replenish their energy and their health. They need showers and clean clothing to keep them clean and warm and they need a safe haven to give them respite from the violence and exploitation they face on the streets.

Homeless youth in San Francisco can find these basic services at the Larkin Street Drop-In Center on Sutter Street, Larkin Street’s flagship youth program, which opened in 1984 in the Polk Gulch neighborhood and serves hundreds of homeless youth every year. The Sutter Street Drop in Center is a safe haven for at-risk youth seeking help and is staffed by caring professionals who provide immediate intervention and short-term counseling to prepare kids to start their journeys toward productive adulthood.

The Drop-In Center is more than just a place to hang out. It also offers connection to education and offers recreational activities where they can connect with peers and adults. Through groups, outings and one-on-one conversations, Drop-In staff support youth with a variety of special needs such as education, family reunification, legal matters, and sexual identity issues. It also serves as a portal to further services. Each new visitor to the Center receives an individual assessment to determine what other services—such as medical care, counseling, or housing—would best suit their immediate and long-term needs.

For some young people, the Drop-In Center is just a place to get away from the streets for a little while. But for most, it is a stop on the way to continued recovery, offering a chance to rebuild their lives and leave the streets for good.

Every year, close to 1,000 young people receive services at the Drop-In Center.

Haight Street Referral Center

When kids on the street are ready to rebuild their lives, Larkin Street Youth Services is there to help them. With the Haight Street Referral Center, Larkin Street provides a critical point of entry for homeless youth in the very San Francisco neighborhood, the Haight, that has been known as a destination for transient, homeless and at-risk youth for generations.

The Haight Street Referral Center is a hub for Larkin Street’s outreach activities in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood near Golden Gate National Park, an area where homeless youth still gather, years after the initial influx of youth to this neighborhood in the 1960s. The Haight Street Referral Center is an important resource for at-risk kids who need basic assistance — including food, hygiene supplies, and referrals to Larkin Street’s housing, education and job assistance programs and other community resources. The Haight Street Center is a safe place to hang out with peers, attend groups focused on substance abuse and HIV prevention, and begin to develop relationships with caring adults.

The Haight Street Referral Center serves as a gateway to the programs and services homeless youth need to rebuild their lives. Young people who frequent the Haight Street Referral Center are encouraged to work with staff members to identify their individual needs and determine short- and longer-term goals towards exiting street life. A case manager and counselors are available to help the youth begin their journey off the streets by referring them to shelter, employment and educational services, and medical care through other Larkin Street Youth Services programs.

The Haight Street Referral Center is Larkin Street’s most highly utilized program, with more than 1,500 youth accessing services there each year.