FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 30, 2020
Media Contact:
Janet Denise Kelly, Sanctuary of Hope
323-786-2413
Sanctuary of Hope (SOH), a local nonprofit youth development and human service organization for Transitional Age Youth, will kick-off National Homeless Youth Awareness Month with a virtual live event titled “Overcoming” on Thursday, November 5th at 10am on its Facebook and YouTube pages (@SanctuaryofHopeLA).
This kick-off event will feature a panel of SOH youth and young adult participants who have had challenges associated with being unhoused, sharing their stories of overcoming and resilience.
Other events include a Virtual Open House of the SOH Adams location in South L.A. on November 12th and a Virtual Open House of the Hawthorne location on November 19th.
Since 2010, the Sanctuary of Hope has been addressing the crisis of youth homelessness and has housed or assisted with housing over 2,700 youth. Through its comprehensive services, SOH provides more than just a place to live. “Youth need a helping and supportive hand in every aspect of their lives in order to overcome the many challenges that young people face. Those challenges are exacerbated when housing insecurity is also a factor,” stated Janet Kelly, Executive Director of Sanctuary of Hope. “Since COVID 19, we’ve seen youth needing more social and emotional supports to deal with isolation and closed access to institutions they need. We really need our community and supporters to know that we need your financial investments and social capital to ensure their success,” added Ms. Kelly.
Youth homelessness has a predominantly Black and Brown face. They are an invisible, underserved, and undercounted population because they are unlikely to identify themselves as “homeless” and engage differently with services. The population of youth experiencing homelessness is rapidly growing in Los Angeles County. Nationwide, an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness.
The final event for the month will be a “Woke Moments” podcast on November 30th, discussing the topic of “Parenting and Unhoused.”
Everyone is welcome to tune-in to all of the awareness events this month and visit the SOH website for more details at www.thesoh.org. Interested supporters and sponsors should email [email protected] for more details.
Sanctuary of Hope (SOH) provides housing and education stabilization services to vulnerable youth and young adult populations between the ages of 16-25, who are homeless, foster care, at-promise, or low-income in South Los Angeles and the South Bay. The agency has served over 4,000 youth since 2010 through their basic needs, housing, and education support programs.
Download press release here.
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