Avenues for Youth

A nonprofit organization

$1,800 raised by 15 donors

2% complete

$100,000 Goal

Will you stand with the community and strengthen a home for youth?

For 30+ years, Avenues for Youth has helped young people move from homelessness to home. More than shelter, Avenues provides spaces where youth can belong, heal, and dream about what’s next. With your support, many of our programs reach 100% housing stability — proving that community truly changes lives.

What does it mean for community to step up and add to the web of support for youth?

Last year a host home with Avenues' ConneQT program had a severe plumbing issue that forced the home to be gutted and rebuilt. Both the hosts A diverse group of community members collaborate to find a solution and the youth were suddenly displaced, and ConneQT had to secure an emergency respite host home. One of our hosts stepped up to provide this support.

The situation was further complicated by the fact that the youth was an asylum seeker from another country and did not speak English. The ConneQT team quickly coordinated appropriate translation services and engaged an immigration legal team to address pressing concerns. A partnered care team provided medical and emotional health support, while the ConneQT manager, Ryan Berg, worked closely with the host to process their stress and provide one-on-one support.

Although the displacement was traumatic, the youth stabilized in the respite host home, ultimately staying longer than expected and building a strong connection with their respite host. In this supportive environment, they felt affirmed and safe enough to find a job and complete a Coordinated Entry System (CES) assessment, which led to securing a housing voucher.

This experience demonstrated the need for creativity and flexibility in mobilizing community support during crises so that youth feel secure enough to continue pursuing their personal goals.

Why is the need for the support of our amazing community greater than ever before?

Each night in Minnesota, over 4,000 youth experience homelessness. As a state, we don't have nearly enough beds to keep all youth safely housed. Avenues' programs are at capacity and we're growing to meet the need. For instance, because of a rapidly increasing need for shelter, we are erecting a new building in our Minneapolis community that will better meet the needs of youth in trauma-informed ways and lead to higher rates of youth securing safe and stable housing after leaving programs at Avenues. Your action within this community will provide Avenues the flexibility and creativity it takes for us to support youth in the ways that are proven to be most effective.

Unfortunately, loss of federal funding and rising living costs pose a challenge.

Soaring costs of essentials such as food and basic supplies have made it more challenging to meet the need for youth shelter—in addition to uncertainties with federal funding. We are committed to offering not just a bed, but a web of supportive community where every young person can find hope and a path forward in their journeys.

Can you make a gift today to help us reach our $100,000 goal?

This is where you come in! Your gift—and all gifts—will go toward our annual general operating fund. Each dollar raised means Avenues for Youth can remain flexible and creative, lending additional strength to each young person who enters one of our four programs.

Photo of former youth hugging a woman, smiling at the camera

Gifts of any amount help wrap youth in a web of community support!

$25 could provide an hour of youth being introduced to education and employment connections
$75 could support the facilitation of conversations between youth and host homes or property managers
$150 could provide a day of connecting youth with local community-based resources such as financial literacy workshops
$250 could bring in a local business owners to provide youth enrichment opportunities like arts & craft workshops, meditation classes, yoga classes, and more
$500 could provide a week of dedicated mental-wellness support for one young person.

Your gift will help strengthen community connections and offer a sense of belonging and healing to youth. Additionally, each gift will make transitional housing for youth feel like home as they heal, grow, and begin dreaming about their futures.

Community support allows us to build meaningful relationships with young people and partner with them on their journeys to stable housing and joyful lives.