We’re excited to announce that we’re building on our partnership with the Accelerator YMCA and the Medina Foundation to work with King County, Friends of Youth and the Pearl Jam Fund to expand the Host Homes King County program. Host Homes are a promising solution to help house youth and young adults who are experiencing homelessness. Host Homes are temporary placements for youth, typically about six months, that provide a safe and stable base while the young person searches for employment, permanent housing or works to complete an education goal.Read More

A few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that Washington state has been awarded not one, but two federal Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) grants. These grants reaffirm that Washington state is on the right path toward ending youth homelessness and that our state can lead the way for others.Read More

We are facing an unprecedented homelessness crisis. Thousands of our neighbors have been pushed beyond the brink and are living in their cars, shelters, tents and park benches all over Seattle and the Puget Sound region. The conversations about solutions have kicked up a disconcerting debate in our city – one that doesn’t match the Seattle I grew up in and the compassion I know exists in the hearts of the people who call our city home.Read More

Each year our community brings together a small army of volunteers for the Point-In-Time (PIT) count. Coordinated by All Home, the PIT count aims to both tally the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night, as well as gather information about their needs so that our community can improve the homeless crisis response system. Read More

In its most recent session the Washington state legislature continued to build on its goal to end youth homelessness with new laws and funding. The legislative action was bold and strategic and sets the stage for substantial improvements to the lives of young people and their families.Read More

In every city and state across the country we are seeing the same alarming and disturbing trend: People of color are dramatically overrepresented in the population of people experiencing homelessness. Here in Seattle, African Americans make up just 6 percent of the overall population, but make up 29 percent of people experiencing homelessness.Read More

We’re excited to announce the release of Missed Opportunities: Youth Homelessness in America, a groundbreaking national study on youth homelessness.Read More

It is hard to imagine an event that better embodies youth empowerment and engagement than the annual Mockingbird Youth Leadership Summit. The Raikes Foundation has long supported the Mockingbird Society, in part because of the organization’s strong commitment to authentically incorporating the voices of young people into its programs and advocacy. Read More

Over the past 100 days, community teams in Washington State have been working around the clock to house as many homeless young people as possible. The 100 Day Challenges in Spokane, Pierce, and King counties were designed to generate innovative solutions to youth homelessness by empowering front line staff and disrupting “business as usual,” and I couldn’t be happier to report that the project was a resounding success. Read More

This guest blog post was written by Erin Lovell, executive director of Legal Counsel for Youth and Children.  Like thousands of youth and young adults in King County, Jessica* struggled with homelessness. Unlike many, however, Jessica also has a developmental disability, which put her in an even more vulnerable situation. Her relatives had been investigated several times for taking advantage of her. Read More