Street Teens Drop-in Center
Nonprofit Organization:
Street Teens
Geographical Area Served:
Las Vegas Valley in Nevada
Mission:
Street Teens is a
volunteer based, non-profit organization dedicated to assisting homeless,
abandoned, and at-risk youth, ages 12-21, in the Las Vegas Valley. Our primary
goal is to meet the survival needs of our youth by providing basic necessities
in a safe, compassionate environment. We are able to provide access to
educational, health care, and employment resource services through our drop-in
center and by actively collaborating with community partners.
Program
Description:
On October 1, 2001,
the Street Teens Drop-In Center opened its doors for the first time to meet the
needs of homeless youth. The goals of the Drop-In Center are twofold:
- to help youth be as safe and healthy as possible while they are living on the streets, and more importantly
- to provide the resources they need to exit the streets by them with the resources necessary to help them obtain employment and housing.
Kids Served:
In the United States, more than 40% of runaway children end up as prostitutes
after just two days living on the streets.
The youth who come to the Drop-In Center are homeless. For the most part they have no families that they can turn to—their families are dysfunctional, their parents have substance abuse problems and are, at best, negligent. Many of these youth have been abused in their homes.
They have amazing survival skills and are incredibly resilient, but have no adult who can help them. At the drop in center these youth can get immediate help, and receive more intense services to help them get off the streets where they are likely to be victimized.
Reunification with their families is always a goal, however, an alarmingly high number of our homeless teens were sexually and/or physically abused over a period of time before running away. These children do not have the option of returning to "safe" home. To date, the Street Teens Drop-in Center has served more than 1,275 teens.
Breakdown/Child:
In 2007, 86% of Street Teens' expenses went to direct services.
Web Site:
www.streetteens.org
