HomePlate Youth Services Giving Tuesday

There is a group that comes to our drop-in centers who are seen by many in the community as the local ne'er-do-wells. When they first started coming to HomePlate they were often loud and argumentative with each other, mostly ignoring or avoiding the staff and volunteers. The most vocal of these folks was the de facto leader - we'll call him Moe. Moe is a big guy, and looks much older than his 19 years. For this reason, among others, he is looked to as a leader by his peers and is often singled out by police or other authority figures when interacting with this group. 

When he first came to HomePlate, he saw me as one of those authority figures. He and I went through some ups and downs but were able to work through some challenges and he now fills a positive leadership role among the young people who access our services. I think the most pivotal moment came when he returned to our space following being asked to take a week-long break from visiting our drop-in centers as a result of an incident in which he threw things and yelled at people. He opted to extend that one-week break into a month-long one, later explaining that he wanted to avoid the conversation he knew would come when he returned. When he did eventually return our conversation wasn't about what he'd done wrong and what he would need to do better, it was an exploration into how he feels in the space, how he thinks he is seen by others, and what support he would like to receive in order to feel safer and more accepted in the space. This approach took him entirely off guard, and his response could not have been more positive. Since then he and I have built a lot of trust, and he has made a clear effort to take accountability for his actions in the space and to act as a role model for others. It hasn't all been perfect since that conversation, but the norm has changed significantly, and the effects have rippled out in a noticeable way. 

Throughout the time I've known Moe, he has always responded to my offers of help finding work with some variation of a polite "no thanks, I have a lead on a job from a friend." I never pushed it, but I also never heard about any follow up on these jobs from friends. I did, however, continue to hear about the challenges Moe and his group of friends faced as they moved around to different sleeping spots outside in downtown Portland. I was finally able to break through with him when he agreed to take a couple of odd jobs, once helping with an event for the City of Beaverton, and then taking over as our lawnmower this summer. Mowing lawns really seemed to open him up to working with me more, he took a couple of shifts painting for me and he lowered some of his defenses. We started talking about some of his long-term goals, and how he may be able to take steps to achieve them.

This fall he participated in one of our training programs that offer paid time to pursue goals (apply for jobs, practice interviews, etc.) in addition to running the post-service coffee hour for a local church. While he was there, he worked with one of my volunteers to craft his cover letter for an internship that we've created in partnership with the City of Hillsboro. If things go as they should he'll be working with his hands in the Facilities department, receiving on the job training, along with an annual bus pass, to work for six months at the city. The goal is that at the end of the internship he'll be able to apply for a full-time job in the same department. A new scholarship program we're developing at HomePlate will help support him as he learns new skills in the internship and works towards a full-time job.

It's hard to condense 18 months of work with someone into a few paragraphs, but I hope I was able to illustrate that a lot of the work I'm doing takes a lot of time, relationship-building, and might not at first seem directly related to finding employment. What I’ve learned however is that without first building relationships with people, traditional service-delivery is much less likely to succeed. I really like working with young people like Moe, and I think it's important that a place like HomePlate exists to offer these opportunities.

Thanks for reading my story. I know this time of year nonprofits everywhere are asking for donations, and I'm sure you get a lot of requests. However, I would be remiss if I didn't send out this to you all in the event that you were both interested in and able to support HomePlate. Thanks again!