The Tempe City Council has approved a Tempe Community Council recommendation of $66,000 to fund Tumbleweed’s efforts to help homeless youth in Tempe. The recommendation was included in the Council’s FY 2015/15 budget approval in June.

“Tempe is so sensitive to the needs of youth and we are thrilled to continue to be part of the solution to youth homelessness in the community,” said Tumbleweed Chief Executive officer Cynthia Schuler. “We served more than 280 homeless youth at our Tempe Youth Resource Center last year while coordinating closely  with entities such as the ASU School of Nursing, the Tempe Community Action Agency, the Tempe Homeless Coalition and many others as part of Tempe’s community-based collaborative approach.”

The Tempe Youth Resource Center at 505 W. University provides homeless young people with shower and laundry facilities, food, clothing and hygiene supplies and connection to counseling and other services.  It operates Monday through Friday from mid-morning until 4 p.m.

This summer, The Tempe Youth Resource Center also becomes home base for Tumbleweed’s new Mobile Youth Resource Center, a full-service van and trailer enabling Tumbleweed to help homeless youth in other parts of the Valley.

Homeless teens and young adults can be encountered in schools, job sites, public events,  just about anywhere people meet.  With nowhere to stay and no one to rely on, most carry the additional burden of dealing with traumatic, abusive events that have directly contributed to their homeless state.  Many people feel awkward about having a conversation with someone who appears homeless, though homeless youth are no less caring or perceptive than any other young person, or any less deserving of your attention and respect.

Here are a few things we hear our Tumbleweed youth say they hear, and which they wish they could prevent!

Why doesn’t your family help you?

Everyone’s story is unique, but most homeless young people between the ages of 12-25 are fleeing abusive home situations that include physical violence, neglect, sexual abuse or parental substance abuse.  Many LGBT youth have been evicted from their families due to their sexual orientation.  Help from their immediate family is not an option.

If you just got a job you could get a place to live.

Due to chaotic, violent or neglectful home environments, many homeless youth have not developed the life skills needed to attain independent young adulthood. The psychological and physiological impact of abuse makes them less likely to have developed skills such as impulse control, management of emotions, or keeping to a schedule. With counseling and a supportive environment, these skills can be learned relatively quickly. However, this kind of comment, no matter how it is intended, is usually not well-received or helpful.

Nobody is going to want to help you when you look like that.

Most young people flee a bad situation with little planning or forethought.  They don’t anticipate the difficulty in keeping clean and neat.  Going for days in the same clothes or without washing up or brushing teeth is a difficult experience for homeless youth and has a negative impact on mental health.  Often, getting a shower and clean clothes is the first Tumbleweed service many young people want to use.  Like anyone, homeless young people are aware of their appearance.

Are you using drugs?

Although the pain of an abusive background and homelessness mean some young people do get involved with substance abuse, it is difficult for homeless young people to understand why strangers feel comfortable asking questions that are confrontational, disrespectful or intrusive.

The vast majority did not choose their situation and have no desire to be homeless.  Many people are surprised by how thoughtful and intelligent young homeless people are, especially if they are approached with courtesy.

You should go to (fill in city name). They give handouts to homeless all the time.

While it is understandable that a casual passerby might think a young homeless person intends to permanently seek handouts and will go to the place he or she is most likely to receive them, that is almost never the case.  Most homeless young people have a strong desire for stability and permanence.

Oh, and almost all the homeless youth we help are originally from the Phoenix metro area.

Next week, some tips that can help you have a conversation with a homeless young person.

The Chandler City Council approved $15,000 for Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development to help homeless youth in Chandler as part of the Fiscal Year 15/16 budget approved in June. For the first time, Tumbleweed will be part of the robust Chandler effort to address the needs of the homeless.

“We are proud to be part of a system that is a model of partnership and community spirit when it comes to addressing homelessness,” said Tumbleweed Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Schuler. “I want to thank Mayor Tibshraeny, Vice Mayor Hartke and the Council, as well as the volunteer Housing and Human Services Commission and their Families in Crisis Subcommittee,” she added.

Tumbleweed will use the funds to set up apartments and identify homeless youth in Chandler who may be eligible for transitional housing. “Our goal is to help homeless youth transition to fully independent young adulthood,” Schuler said. “Many of them are fleeing abusive situations. They often lack the life skills and group of supportive people most of us take for granted.”

Tumbleweed has been in operation since 1975 and operates 6 residential facilities and two Youth Resource Centers in Phoenix and Tempe as well as a County-accredited alternative high school. Tumbleweed serves homeless youth ages 12 through 25 with assistance ranging from emergency housing to respite services including food, clothing, laundry/shower facilities and counseling. Other services include family reunification and for older youth, transitional housing, education and life skills training.

As part of its adoption of the Fiscal Year 2015/16 budget in June, the Scottsdale City Council approved $30,000 in General Fund allocations that will help Tumbleweed Youth Development Center develop transitional housing for homeless youth.

“We want to thank Mayor Lane, Vice Mayor Milhaven and the entire Council for their support of services for homeless youth in Scottsdale,” said Tumbleweed Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Schuler. “We are also very grateful for the recommendation to Council by the Scottsdale Human Services Commission.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to help the youth of Scottsdale when they are in crisis,” Schuler added, noting that many young homeless people need temporary or short term assistance transitioning from foster care or dealing with difficult or abusive situations in a home environment.

Tumbleweed has been in operation since 1975 and operates 6 residential facilities and two Youth Resource Centers in Phoenix and Tempe as well as a County-accredited alternative high school. Tumbleweed serves homeless youth ages 12 through 25 with assistance ranging from emergency housing to respite services including food, clothing, laundry/shower facilities and counseling. Other services include family reunification and for older youth, transitional housing, education and life skills training.

In approving its Fiscal Year 2016 Budget in June, The Peoria City Council authorized $3,000 to help Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development assist young Peoria residents.  The approval followed a recommendation for funding from the Peoria Council Not-For-Profit Review and Housing Sub-Committee earlier this year.

“We are grateful the Council recognizes that when Peoria youth are in crisis, Tumbleweed is a premier agency offering a variety of assistance,” said Tumbleweed Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Schuler. “These funds can expand our management of the Safe Place call box program to Peoria, or defray the costs of housing or otherwise assisting Peoria young people who are transitioning from foster care or dealing with difficult or abusive situations at home.”

Tumbleweed has been in operation since 1975 and operates 6 residential facilities and two Youth Resource Centers in Phoenix and Tempe as well as a County-accredited alternative high school. Tumbleweed serves homeless youth ages 12 through 25 with assistance ranging from emergency housing to respite services including food, clothing, laundry/shower facilities and counseling. Other services include family reunification and for older youth, transitional housing, education and life skills training.

Thanks to the Arizona Child Abuse Prevention License Plate Fund’s $25,000 grant, Tumbleweed will enhance services for our under-18 shelters for homeless and runaway youth.

Our Safe Place and Open Hands program provide emergency shelter, counseling, family reunification and other services for minors who have left troubled home lives.

The grant was made possible through a partnership of the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family, The Arizona Community Foundation and the Arizona Republic with funding partners Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, BHHS Legacy Foundation and Valley of the Sun United Way.

Thank you to all of the partners involved in this unique program to help Arizona youth!

Sex trafficking survivor Leah Rogers addressed young people staying at the Tumbleweed Emergency Housing Program July 2, sharing her story of survival and recovery.

Rogers is a former stripper and sex industry worker who has written an Autobiography called “Game Over: The Story Behind A Sex Trafficking Victim,” released  in May, 2015, detailing life as a prostitute owned by a savage pimp.

Leah’s website and powerful YouTube video have given her international exposure. Through social media, she is approaching one million views.

Leah was raised with a mother who was a heavy drug user and was regularly physically abused by men.  Leah began running away and worked as a stripper to maintain a living for her daughter. It was there that she’d met the man later exposed as a pimp.

Leah worked as a prostitute around the United States, mainly California, Scottsdale, Arizona, Washington, D.C and Texas for almost three years, while being beaten brutally by her pimp even after she became pregnant with his son.

On May 13th, 2011, after disturbing encounters with law enforcement and her pimp’s recruitment of underage girls, Leah got a second chance to turn her life around.

“Nuestra Causa” host Maria Jesus Cervantes interviewed Tumbleweed’s Ken Lynch about the Tumbleweed partnership with Chicanos Por La Causa that is creating a new 44-bed facility for young people transitioning from homelessness or foster care.

Ms. Cervantes also talked with Tumbleweed client Eric Robles about his journey toward stability following years of teen homelessness.

The “Nuestra Causa” program aired on KTVK Channel 3 June 14.

Tumbleweed and CPLC partnered to provide neighborhood stabilization and community housing when CPLC purchased and renovated the Starlight Apartments at 2234 E. Hazelwood in Phoenix. Tumbleweed has furnished most of the apartments and will assist many residents toward self-sufficient adulthood.  Tumbleweed staff will be on the premises monitoring progress as younger tenants learn how to balance work, school and self care in an independent setting.

The groups held a joint ribbon cutting ceremony June 2.

http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=2fcf06e0-6f10-4e91-be7f-e9556bdd8957

(June 10, 2015) Tumbleweed Program Manager Melissa Brockie was featured on a panel of experts at the White House this week as Washington welcomed a National Convening on Trafficking and Child Welfare.

Tumbleweed is the lead agency of the five-member AZ Partnership to End Domestic Trafficking and Brockie is Tumbleweed’s point person in the effort. At the White House, Brockie was a panelist during the “Focusing on Coordination and Collaboration” session. She addressed the statewide collaboration that is fighting international trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault, and assisting runaway and homeless youth.

“Arizona is a critical battleground in the fight against human trafficking and it is a privilege to be invited to the White House to share what we are learning,” Brockie said. “AZ Partnership is an innovative way to bring local groups together as public awareness of this tragedy increases, and that is what the other experts in the field wished to hear about.”

Other members of the AZ Partnership are Training and Resources United to Stop Trafficking (TRUST), Arizona Legal Women And Youth Services (ALWAYS), Phoenix Dream Center and Our Family Services. The Arizona State University School of Social Work’s Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research is providing research and evaluating the effectiveness of the effort.

Brockie also met with the Polaris Project, a national group working to eradicate worldwide slavery and human trafficking. Earlier today, Polaris published its latest research on minors being compelled into labor and sex trafficking in the United States.

http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/resources/child-trafficking-child-welfare

(June 3, 2015) Tumbleweed and Chicanos Por La Causa celebrated a unique partnership June 2 with a ribbon cutting at a renovated west Phoenix apartment complex.

The former Starlight Apartments at 2234 W. Hazelwood will be providing housing for residents, including young people assisted by Tumbleweed in the transition from foster care or homelessness. The 44-beds in the one and two-bedroom complex will significantly increase Tumbleweed’s ability to offer housing to this group, according to Tumbleweed CEO Cyndi Schuler.

“It’s significant not only because it enhances our ability to help our service populations but also because it brings us together with one of the most respected social service agencies in Arizona, Chicanos Por La Causa,” said Tumbleweed CEO Cynthia Schuler.

Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) purchased the complex and renovated it through its construction subsidiary. CPLC will also manage the property. “Tumbleweed will have staff on site 24/7 to work with the young people who are transitioning to young adulthood,” Schuler says.

The neighborhood benefits from having a formerly derelict property renovated an occupied, Schuler adds, “and our young peope have already been at work in the neighborhood, volunteering for cleanups and graffiti removal.” Schuler said Tumbleweed worked with the City of Phoenix and local neighborhood groups to create community support.

Residents should begin moving in by the end of June, she said.