Homeless Teens A Westside Concern(posted Sept 19) An outreach called Restoring Lives West started last year to help the west side' s homeless youth, thanks to the awareness of Gloria Hubbuch, coordinator for the MSD of Wayne Township Adult Basic Education. Adult Basic Education provides a way obtain a GED. Hubbuch explained ABE serves about 1,400 adults per year and she started noticing that some of the young adults were homeless and were in need of shelter, clothing and hygiene. She said they serve about 200 students that fall into this category. This statistic is through self-reporting so the number could be higher. "So many of our youth might not consider themselves homeless if they have a buddy's couch to crash on, and some are just one step away from being from being homeless due to impending cut off of utilities, inability to pay rent." Hubbuch explained that ABE has been able to obtain an Outreach grant from the Indiana Department of Education's Division of Adult Education for the last two years. This outreach grant is to help fund a program that identifies and assists students with basic support and survival needs, or other barriers that prevent them from accessing education or job training. She said this grant ends in June of 2008. Through this concern, west side churches, community leaders, businesses and schools have created Restoring Lives West. The Lynhurst Baptist Church is a major component in creating a "drop in" center. They are converting two rooms in the Lynhurst Baptist Church Community Center into a resource room / bistro coffee area. The facility and program serve more like a clearinghouse of information to help those in need with services. The goal is to eventually have a shelter. In an effort to bring public awareness about homeless youth, a street fair occurred September 15 at community center at 709 S. Lynhurst Drive. Visitors stopped by to tour the building and see the changes planned. The bistro coffee area is to make the teens to feel welcome to stay for a few hours. The room's original plan was to make it a computer lab. This ministry has rallied other churches to the cause. Pastor Steve Eisenbarth of the Westlake Church of Christ is helping with the remodeling. "The churches realize they need to reach beyond their protected territory. The community can be better served with the churches pooling resources," he explained. Eisenbarth said the mission has grown into an interdenominational outreach involving the Drexel Christian Church, St. Christopher Catholic Church, Ben Davis Christian Church, Chapel Hill United Methodist and others. LBCCC Operations Director Don Parrott explained the church purchased the former Delmar Nursing Home in December 2003 with no portend that it would be developing a homeless mission four years later. He explained that one of the ministries that was first offered is the after care program to serve kids from Kindergarten through Sixth grade. The number one priority is to help the students get their homework done. It also houses a catering business and the American Baptist Church of Greater Indianapolis. Parrott said the church is also involved in the Exodus program to help foreign refuges relocate in the United States. The church has been involved with placing families from Burma and Estonia. The church even sent clothes to Estonia followed by a mission ministry to Africa. He also noted the church has a bread ministry where they distribute free bread and pastries to the community. They also distribute to other churches to reach a bigger segment of those in need. Social worker Hope Garrett will run Restoring Lives West. The plans are to be an operational resource center by October. She said she was sitting in church when she heard God direct her to get involved. She admitted that her first reaction was to say no to God's calling, but didn't. She noted the irony because she was not even of aware of Hubbuch's work of identifying the homeless that were attending ABE. "There is such a need to help the homeless youth." She explained that many of the homeless are a result of foster care. Once a teen turns 18, he or she is no longer in the foster system regardless if they have completed high school or not. At 18, not many people are prepared financially to provide for themselves. She said she received a call about two brothers that have been displaced from the system that are still in school. She noted they are still able to eat meals with their former foster parent, but cannot spend the night because other foster children have already been assigned to the home. She said they were able to provide clothes. It is not unusual for teens to migrate from home to home or couch to couch looking for a place to sleep. She said this lifestyle is known as "couch surfing." Some teens are not as fortunate to be able to rotate through friends' homes for a place to sleep for the night. Some have no alternatives but to call their home an abandoned car or a make shift shelter of boxes behind stores, or find stores open 24 hours a day. Garrett focused on the need to have a shelter to fill in the gap in services. Not many people are aware of the lack of shelters to care for homeless teens that are 18 or less. She said boys are not eligible to go to Wheeler Mission until they are 18. But for the meantime, the program focus is connecting with as many churches, groups and civic clubs as possible. Parrott contends the more connections they develop, the better information they'll have to serve the homeless. Parrott said City County Councilor Marilyn Pfisterer has been by several times to show her support. "I think it is a wonderful project This is an effective faith based initiative that the government should partner with," Pfisterer said. Parrott explained the longevity of the program will dependent upon the success of raising money and receiving grants. |
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