Hope For Youth was awarded a $21,000 grant through Newsday Charities

Hope For Youth was awarded a $21,000 grant through Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation fund, to support mental health services for youth who are homeless or who have experienced trauma. This grant will address unmet complex needs of youth in our programs; particularly those who enter our Youth Runaway and Homeless Shelter Program.

After Newsday partnered with the Robert R. McCormick Foundation in 2000, Newsday Charities was formed and expanded both organizations long-term support of helping those in need on Long Island. Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation fund, is committed to improving the lives of disadvantaged Long Islanders, such as those who are homeless and/or have experienced trauma. The charity awards grants to nonprofit organizations that provide programs in the areas of hunger, housing, youth education and child abuse prevention/treatment.

Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation fund, invests in organizations that demonstrate a commitment to creating value in one or more of their areas of interest. When awarding grants they look for motivated, knowledgeable and passionate organizations who they know will effectively contribute to finding a solution to the social issue at hand. By awarding Hope For Youth a grant for supporting the mental health of youth who are homeless and/or have experiences trauma, Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation fund, has put forth their confidence in Hope For Youth for facilitating change in this vulnerable population.

As mentioned, this grant awarded to Hope For Youth will be utilized to support mental health services for youth who are homeless and/or who have experienced trauma. Such individuals are often found within Hope For Youths Runaway Shelter Program, which was opened on June 1, 2016. The shelter provides a safe, supportive and secure environment for all Suffolk County youth between the ages of 12 and 21 who find themselves in crisis and are in need of a haven. Youth can remain in the program for up to 30 days and are provided with safe shelter, case management services, individual and family counseling, transportation, food, clothing, educational assistance and advocacy, medical care coordination and referrals, living skills development and other essential services. Unfortunately, a lot of the youth who enter the program have been dealt a very painful hand in life as victims of abuse and neglect, which is why receiving this grant is extremely important and will benefit youth by being able to provide them with the mental health services they may need.

Hope For Youths goal is to ensure all basic needs are met and to work intently with each child and their family to restore and/ or rebuild the family connection when possible or seek out a healthy alternative. Homeless youth are an extremely vulnerable population, they are without a safe and dependable place to call home and have not yet reached physical or emotional maturity. In addition to their experiences with unstable housing, most face or have faced a number of adversities, making them at increased risk for poor mental health outcomes. Risk factors for poor mental health outcomes among homeless youth are multi-factorial and most youth lack any form of emotional or instrumental supports.

Through mental health services that will be made possible through Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation Funds grant, Hope For Youth will be able to help alleviate some of the impacts of the adversities faced by homeless youth and those who have experienced trauma in order to promote healthy and positive youth development, which is a critical component of the shelter. This grant will allow Hope For Youth to stop untreated mental health issues from becoming more complex and detrimental, and help youth in achieving a good quality of life and well-being in emerging adulthood. Hope For Youth is truly grateful to Newsday Charities, a McCormick Foundation for their support and commitment to helping those in need on Long Island and making such mental health services feasible.

To learn more about Newsday Charities visit their website: https://www.newsdaycharities.org/