The Campaign to Prevent & End Youth and Young Adult Homelessness in Pierce County
The purpose of the Campaign is to develop and implement a Tacoma-Pierce County centered effort that engages, aligns, and supports a broad spectrum of stakeholders to understand youth and young adult homelessness better and take coordinated action to change the conditions that allow young people to experience homelessness in Pierce County, Washington.
The Campaign envisions a Pierce County where
- All young people are safely housed & have a promising path forward.
- All young people are secure enough to live their fullest lives.
- A whole, connected system prevents any young person or young family from falling into chronic instability that leads to ongoing homelessness and meets their whole needs when they seek support.
- Community-centered and youth voice-centered solutions are essential for achieving meaningful, measurable progress.
This campaign launched in 2021 and has been picking up momentum since then. Read the Progress & Needs Report to understand the problems in Pierce County, find out how the campaign has impacted the community, and learn what the future holds.
What we have learned
We must change the external narrative surrounding Youth and Young Adult Homelessness
The Campaign will continue to champion the direct inclusion of youth and young adults in all facets of system design and review. By leveraging both professional and financial privilege we can continue to elevate the level of visibility of our youth and young adults. A demonstrated commitment to incorporating youth voices will be instrumental in securing additional funds for homelessness services, program design, and accountability.
We must foster greater cooperation between system partners
Pierce County has very few housing options that cater specifically to Youth and Young adults. Until we can increase our inventory of providers, collaboration is essential. The campaign will continue to support collaborations by identifying potential partnerships, sharing additional funding opportunities, and inviting agencies outside of Pierce County to connect with community stakeholders.
We must invite additional black, indigenous, and people of color-led organizations to participate in solutions
Equity of service should be a cornerstone of our system with more than 70% of youth identifying as people of color and 21% as LGBTQ+. Our youth have expressed the importance of working with staff and organizations they feel have a shared identity. The Campaign has continued to advocate for additional technical support for “for us, by us” organizations. Welcoming and supporting organizations led by those with lived experience will allow us to provide equitable housing options to help our community achieve function zero by increasing the available housing inventory.
We must bring additional resources to Pierce County dedicated to the prevention and eradication of homelessness
The latest round of YHDP was recently announced. Unfortunately, Pierce County wasn’t awarded any funding. The Campaign will continue to center the YHDP efforts as a centerpiece of our advocacy. We have already begun the strategic planning phase for the next funding cycle. These plans include refining the youth and young adult Point in Time count, connecting with the Office of Homelessness Youth to debrief their successful application strategy, and re-focusing the Continuum of Care YHDP work groups for the efforts to provide year-long support for a positive outcome. We have developed a work group that comprises the Campaign director, The Youth Action Board, service providers, and community members to continue to develop our goals. This includes deciding on the matrix that will accurately demonstrate the Campaign’s impact.