The Coalition Supporting Young Adults met again in March as a whole to learn what its Planning Team had been working on for several months. A new issue brief of “Voices of Young Adults” was presented this time highlighting the fact that the majority of young adults say no one is helping them with anything and if they are getting any help it is usually from a case manager or someone at an agency of some kind. When asked what they worried about the most they said “being alone.” When asked what kind of help you think people your age need they said “someone to care about them.”
The Planning Team had been asked to explore education resources. The team found that there are plenty of education resources available but that they are having trouble reaching this specific group of young adults. So, at this time the team does not think another education resource needs to be developed, but everyone needs be made aware of the resources and spread the word. A handout was provided listing the agencies the planning team had worked with.
The planning team was also asked to explore how the CSYA could impact the following issues that surfaced in the young adult survey: “talk about my future” and “confidence in myself.” The two strategies that rose to the top to address these issues were: “connect young adults with caring adults” and “service provider collaboration.”
The planning team came up with three options to present to the full CSYA:
- Points of Intervention – young adults in need of support should have access to intervention points throughout the community, so that they are able to easily interact with caring adults, learn about available services and be referred to resources. Possible intervention points can include: public schools (for those under 18), churches, Neighborhood Places, homeless shelters, and business/organizations in the Safe Place network.
- Louisville’s Youth One Stop (LYOS) – Louisville’s Youth One Stop will offer access to a comprehensive array of services to meet the educational, employment, health, mental health and civic/social engagement needs of Louisville’s young adults, aged 16-24 years old.
- “Everyone is a Caring Adult” Media Campaign – To partner with a PR firm (or really creative young adults and healthy adults) to create a dynamic media campaign that would shift attitudes, inform the community about youth development best practices and inspire behaviors and inclusion that would shift the experiences of young adults from isolated and negative to included and positive.
After discussion and voting it was decided one work group will be convened to work on the Louisville One Stop/Points of Intervention options and another work group will convene to work on the media campaign option. If you are interested in working on these ideas or if you would like to receive copies of the “Voices of Young Adults” issue briefs please contact Senlin Ward at sward@louhomeless.org.