Homeless youth in street tunnel

HOMELESS YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT SERVICES

As one of the only dedicated homeless youth service providers in Tucson, Our Family Services offers housing and support to many hundreds of homeless youth each year.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

“What am I gonna do?”

That’s what many young people are worried about when they first come into contact with Our Family Services. Whether someone in our Street Outreach Team encounters them out in the community, or if they receive support through case management, we can help them along their way of finding a safe place to call home. Our programs for homeless youth transition a young person’s survival skills into the building blocks of resiliency.

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Youth & children sheltered/served in FY21.
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Street Outreach contacts made in FY21.

Reunion House & Safe Place

We are proud of our Reunion House shelter—a crisis shelter for abused, homeless, and runaway teens (ages 12 – 17); it’s the only shelter of its kind in all of Southern Arizona. In fact, last year Reunion House offered a safe and supportive home for nearly 250 homeless teens.

Most youth come to Reunion House with little but the clothes they are wearing. We give them necessities and home-cooked meals, enroll them in school, and reunify them with their families whenever possible. We provide a safe, welcoming home until a permanent placement is arranged, with stays averaging 21 days.

Reunion House is a Safe Place.

Safe Place is a national youth outreach and prevention program for young people under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety. “Safe Places” are venues where young people can show up at any time of the day or night to access emergency housing.  Businesses like gas stations, libraries, restaurants, etc. can all register as Safe Places. QuikTrip gas stations, for example, comprise about two thirds of the Safe Place locations across Tucson.

Reunion House is the only licensed Safe Place Agency in all of Pima County. Many of the young people who come to Reunion House are brought there by the National Safe Place Program.

Services for Young Adults 18-24

More than 700 homeless young adults between the ages of 18-24 sought housing at Our Family and through the local coordinated entry system last year. 1 in 3 were pregnant or parenting and many had experienced sex or labor trafficking. Though some found shelter or were able to stay briefly with friends or extended family, nearly half were sleeping outdoors, in abandoned buildings, or other dangerous and unsafe places, leaving them at high risk for violence, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation. We believe that each of these young people deserves a safe place to call home, a caring adult to lean on, and the opportunity to escape homelessness, heal from trauma, and build a solid foundation on which they can live healthy, productive lives.

Ending young adult homelessness in Pima County will not be easy but Our Family is committed to making this vision a reality. We provide an unbroken pathway from homelessness to self-sufficiency for homeless young adults which includes street and community-based outreach, emergency shelter, and a variety of supportive housing programs. We offer specialized housing services ranging from six months to two years or more for homeless LGBTQ young adults, teen parents, sex and labor trafficked young adults, and young adults with disabilities.

Housing is just the beginning, though. National studies find that homeless young adults require much more – education, employment, independent living skills, behavioral and physical health care, and legal services. Each of our programs for homeless young adults include these elements. We connect young adults to employment and education programs that will put them on the road to lifelong success. We offer on-site counseling, life and parenting skills classes, and legal services. And we provide each individual with a case manager, a caring adult who helps them identify personal goals, address barriers to stability, and begin their journey out of homelessness.

Our Family offers a first step from homelessness for hundreds of young adults each year, providing not just a safe bed but the opportunity to build a community of support and stability.

Diversion funds are available to help young adults through the age of 24 find alternatives to shelter and prevent homelessness. See what costs can be covered and screen for eligibility.

Youth 12-17 in need of immediate help call:

(520) 320-5122

Young Adults 18-24

(520) 323-1708 x 103 | Email: housing@ourfamilyservices.org