LSS
Safe House Youth Shelter Re-Opens In St. Paul
This year, more than 130 youth
living on the streets in the Twin Cities will be able to find emergency
shelter, safety, meals and counseling support with the re-opening of
Lutheran Social Service's Safe House in St. Paul on January 31.
State budget cuts last year
produced a $220,000 deficit in the program's operating budget, forcing the
program to close in August 2003. Changes in the last legislative session
mean that counties now administer funds locally for youth services. In
December, Ramsey County Human Services allocated $110,000 for the Safe
House in 2004. However, the program still needs an additional $150,000 to
fund operations this year, and double that number to remain open in 2005.
"We're stretching out in faith
that enough concerned citizens, churches and organizations will step
forward to help us keep the doors open at the LSS Safe House," said Mark
Peterson, President/CEO of Lutheran Social Service. "While we don't wish
to relieve the government of its responsibility to care for kids on the
street, we can't sit back and wait for the government to fully embrace
this responsibility again."
The LSS Safe House, a shelter
for homeless youth, ages 16-20, is located in the Merriam Park
neighborhood of St. Paul and served homeless youth from 1987 until it
closed in August 2003. It is one of the few services in the Twin Cities
where young people can find assistance with shelter, basic needs, advocacy
and referral to other services to meet longer-term needs. LSS Director
Susan Phillips said that there are only 69 beds for homeless youth in the
Twin Cities to serve several hundred youth surviving on the streets on any
given night.
Where have kids gone while the
Safe House was closed? "It's been rough!" Phillips said. "Some rode the
busses all night and came to our drop-in center tired, cold and hungry.
Some organizations paid for vouchers so that kids could stay in a hotel
for the night, but that's not always a great solution either, for youth
who are alone and vulnerable."
Since the Safe House
re-opened, the beds have been full every night. "Kay" is a 17-year-old
girl who fled from a violent stepfather at home and eventually landed at
the Safe House after a brief stay with members of her congregation. She is
looking at different options for finishing her high school education and
living on her own. There are hundreds more like her in the Twin Cities.
The good news for the Safe
House is that three funders, including The McKnight Foundation, Hugh J.
Anderson Foundation, and an anonymous foundation, have responded favorably
to proposals and have awarded the Safe House $95,000 over two years. But
$205,000 more is needed.
Said Phillips: "We're
optimistic that the goodwill of caring Minnesotans will come through for
us in the short-term, and that policy makers will support a safety net for
kids who fall through the cracks in the next funding cycle. We are
extraordinarily committed to being there for homeless youth. We can't just
walk away."
