The Safe House of Chautauqua County has begun the implementation process to
expand its Outreach Program that’s designed to increase outreach
efforts to the youth of Chautauqua County.
The Outreach
Program will include a nationally produced curriculum for Runaway
Prevention that will be offered to local schools and the establishment
of a website that will allow the youth to gain access to educational
and crisis information as well as regular real time chats with
Outreach staff and special guests who will cover a variety of topics
geared toward providing youth an opportunity to their perspective.
The goal of
the grant is to reach 5000 youth who may be “at-risk” runaways or
who may become homeless by providing them with services and
information aimed at prevention. For
youth already in a desperate situation, the Outreach Staff will also
be able to provide direct services of food, clothing along with a safe
place for them to seek shelter.
A major
addition to the current program is a second vehicle that will allow
both Outreach workers to provide street coverage in different
locations in the county at the same time. Safe House Director Bill Vogt states “research has shown
that healthy adolescents have at least one adult outside their own
family with whom they have
a close relationship. For
those youth who don’t, this program will offer the initial contact
necessary to meet a mentor. It
is our hope that every adolescent in Chautauqua County will become
aware of the many services available in the county and prevent any of
our children from becoming a runaway.”
The major
goal of this award is to provide the youth with increased
opportunities for the positive use of their time. A partnership has been established with the Jamestown Family
YMCA and its Teen Center.
The Teen
Center will now serve as a Teen Drop-In Center where youth can have
access to all of the above mentioned crisis services as well as the
active, safe and nurturing environment provided by the YMCA.
YMCA Teen Director Chris Passamonte states
“we’re opening our doors to some at risk kids and it opens the opportunity for those
kids who haven’t used our services before.”
The Outreach
Program has been made possible thanks to an Outreach Grant awarded to
The Safe House through the U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services. The grant money
will be awarded in increments of $100,000 per year for three years of
outreach. A big thank you
is being sent out to the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County who
matched $10,000 in grant funding.
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