Street Outreach (Youth)
LOCATION
SCHEDULE OPTIONS
Semester availability
FallSpring
Summer
Service hours
EveningWeekend
Available days/hours
Drop-In Center:
Saturday 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday 4:30 - 9 pm
Drop-In Center hours are dependent on the number of volunteers and interns available during these time periods.
Street Outreach:
Phoenix: Thursday 7 - 9 pm.
Tempe: Friday 7:30 - 9:30 pm
REQUIRED/DESIRED SKILLS
To work directly with homeless youth, interns must be at least 18 years of age, consent to a criminal background investigation ($15 processing fee)
Interns who are between 16-18 years of age may volunteer with the program only with signed parental consent and consent to a criminal background investigation ($15 processing fee)
Interns must be able to attend a training session before they begin working with the youth.
Interns must be committed to showing up at the scheduled time and days every single week.
Those interested in street outreach should have a valid driver's license.
Interns will be working directly with homeless and at-risk youth. It is recommended that interns be outgoing and good listeners.
CATEGORIES
AddictionCrisis Intervention
Disabilities
Education
Homeless
LGBTQ
Mentoring
Social Services
Youth (direct interaction)
Youth III: 11-14 years (6th-9th grades)
Youth IV: 14-18 years (high school)
Youth V: 18-22 years (young adult)
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Stand Up for Kids
ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP
Duties
Our street outreach teams walk the streets and visit shelters week after week looking for homeless youth in need of help and guidance. Youth are provided with basic necessities such as food, water, clothing, and hygiene products. Once volunteers are able to gain the youth’s trust they are able to understand their needs and provide guidance on how to connect to other community resources available to help them.
You will soon find that being a street outreach counselor is dramatically different from anything you've ever done before! National statistics report the number of homeless kids at more than 1.5 million. More than 500 thousand are still under the age of 15, and some are as young as nine!
As counselors we're going to go the streets and try to reach these kids! We are going to try and try again. We will walk the streets week after week never knowing the number of kids that we are reaching. We may never know, that a few years from now, a youngster was able to leave the streets because of the commitment and work we are doing today.
Population served
Street kids are just that: without a home or a guardian. While most street kids are living on the streets, some do come up with money to live in hotels/motels off and on. Mainly they live under bridges, in dumpsters, and just about anyplace you can think of.
Homeless kids are without a parent or guardian: they live in hotels, motels, apartments, or with friends. For some, they are just a breath away from becoming a street kid.
Community need/impact
Thirteen kids die on the streets every day from abuse, disease and suicide. Children aren't living on the streets, they're dying!
Kids are running away at the rate of 1 every minute. In the days that follow, as they continue to flee, they run into many things; drug dealers, pimps, perverts and pedophiles, STD's, and HIV. And, some die! For many, the act of "running away" has become a "crash" of unbelievable proportions, such that recovery from the streets will take months and in some cases years. Our goal is to reach the kids, before they reach that point!
The single greatest need, for homeless and street kids is our continuous caring and real support. We must convince them that we care, we want them back, and we want to help them get off the streets.
Street Outreach provides homeless youth with the following:
- Referral services for available programs throughout the community
- Meals and snacks
- Hygiene products
- Counseling referral service
- Make meaningful relationships with caring adults
