For Immediate Release

RAYNIER INSTITUTE & FOUNDATION COMMITS $7.75 MILLION IN GRANTS
TO END CYCLE OF YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
Seattle Organizations YouthCare and ROOTS Benefit and Collaborate to Create
Catalyst, a Model For Ending Youth Homelessness

Seattle (Feb. 4, 2010) – The Raynier Institute & Foundation, a private operating foundation that funds causes of a charitable nature, has awarded $7.75 million to two Seattle-based organizations serving homeless youth: YouthCare, serving homeless and at-risk youth ages 12-24, and ROOTS, which provides emergency shelter for homeless young adults ages 18-25. The grants will fill gaps in current services offered to Seattle’s homeless youth, increase the number of emergency shelter beds specifically available to homeless young adults and fund an innovative housing-and-service model for homeless youth and young adults who are incompatible with traditional housing programs. 

“With this investment the Raynier Institute & Foundation is focusing on providing the specialized interventions needed to create stability for homeless youth,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Raynier Institute & Foundation.  “Our founder, James Widener Ray, was passionate about supporting human services and we know he would be proud of our decision to help create a better future for Seattle’s young homeless population.”

YouthCare will receive $2.1 million over three years to free up money for its services to Seattle's homeless youth and young adults by applying these funds to the retirement of the mortgage on YouthCare’s Orion drop-in center at the foot of Capitol Hill.  In addition, the organization will receive $1.5 million over five years to create 15 additional emergency shelter beds at this facility.  In recognition of the Raynier Institute & Foundation’s generous support, Orion will be renamed “YouthCare’s James W. Ray Orion Center.”

ROOTS, the only shelter in Seattle that exclusively serves young adults, will receive $1.55 million over ten years. The grant will underwrite operation of the ROOTS Young Adult Shelter, allowing the program to continue operating its facility seven nights per week and to maintain a capacity of 25 beds for those in need. The non-profit has also been offered $500,000 for capital improvements at its current location or for the funding of a new location, if needed.

“For a variety of reasons including personal safety, young adults tend to avoid the big shelters that serve a largely older clientele, so these beds are essential,” said Sinan Demirel, Ph.D., executive director of ROOTS. “In 2009, we turned away more than 1,700 youth from our shelter due to a lack of available beds, but with this grant from Raynier, we expect that number to decrease substantially over the next ten years.”

The Raynier Institute & Foundation has also granted $2.1 million over eight years toward a collaboration to develop, operate and evaluate Catalyst, a pilot program designed to give stability and services to the most marginalized homeless youth and to prevent homeless young people from becoming chronically homeless adults.  Conceptualized by ROOTS and YouthCare and operated by YouthCare, Catalyst is a low-barrier residential program that provides round-the-clock supervision, educational and employment support, life skills training, chemical dependency treatment and mental health counseling. In March 2009, the Catalyst program began providing medium-term (six months) transitional housing to high-need, high-barrier young adults (ages 18-23), many of whom suffer from chemical dependency or untreated mental illness. The program currently operates out of YouthCare’s Straley House in Seattle.

“Many homeless youth and young adults are further challenged by chemical dependency, untreated mental illness, and histories of violence or abuse,” said Melinda Giovengo, Ph.D, executive director of YouthCare. “The stable environment and continuous access to services that the Catalyst program provides are exactly what’s needed here.”

According to the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in King County, there are more than 400 youth and young adults living on the streets of King County at any given time, yet it is widely accepted that many homeless young people are not counted. Service providers estimate that approximately 2,000 young people experience homelessness in King County during the course of a year. A 2007 study conducted by the National Symposium on Homelessness Research determined that 93 percent of youth who received services during their experiences with homelessness were not homeless five years later, and 75 percent of youth who received emergency services for housing when first homeless returned to their homes. These figures demonstrate that early intervention can cost-effectively break the cycle of homelessness, but many homeless youth most in need of assistance are incompatible with traditional housing programs due to challenges that often include chemical dependency, untreated mental illness and histories of violence and abuse. For this reason, specialized interventions, such as the Catalyst program, that provide stability and intensive services for these youth are needed in order to allow them to access more traditional services in the long term.

RAYNIER INSTITUTE & FOUNDATION INVESTMENT IN CHANGE:
A COMMUNITY MODEL TO END YOUTH HOMELESSNESS