Most of the youth and families receiving support from the programs under J Bar J require a holistic approach to their situation and multiple services to help them reach stability. A recent example highlighting how services come together was when a teenager needed housing. Sara was living in a vehicle with her mother and siblings. Her mother had escaped an abusive situation and fled to Bend with her children. However, addiction issues made living in most shelters problematic as they require clean and sober residents. She had run out of options.
Sara was a good student and worked hard, but homelessness made even simple things like getting to school a struggle. A teacher at Sara’s high school recommended she look into services at Cascade Youth & Family Center and The LOFT, our transitional living shelter for runaway and homeless youth. Sara was eligible for lodging at The LOFT and her family was referred to other programs under the umbrella of J Bar J Youth Services.
First, The Street Outreach Program checked in with the family and helped secure a temporary hotel room and provided groceries. Kindred Connections, our program providing support to families in crisis, sometimes by temporarily hosting a child in someone’s home, worked to find them a longer term place to park an RV a donor had offered. The family was reunited in a living situation where her mom could then find support in her recovery.
Other services are called on when needed. The Anti- Trafficking Project provides case management to survivors of human trafficking and The Independent Living Program teaches life skills to current and former foster children living in one of our 3 shelter programs: The LOFT, Grandma’s House, or a Kindred Connections Family.
There are many community services J Bar J programs network with to assure youth in our programs have what they need to sustain a transition to self-sufficiency and reach long term success.
Mosaic Medical for health care and A Smile for Kids, providing orthodontics for underserved youth are examples of our generous medical community partners. Furnish Hope is a community partner that helps a house become a home for a youth or family as they transition into their own living space.
An important piece of this network is helping kids get to higher education. COCC’s Latinx Student Program refers youth to our Big Brothers Big Sisters Latinx Mentor Program supported by Oregon Community Foundation to mention just one. Students in a mentoring relationship are more likely to complete high school and attend higher education. When youth need help overcoming obstacles, it requires a holistic, community approach. It does take a village. Our village is very generous!