It’s a new day in Clackamas County.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development just named Clackamas County as one of 23 communities nationwide to receive an influx of grant money to help create solutions to address the growing problem of homelessness among teens and young adults. Clackamas is the only county in Oregon to receive the award.

Abby Ahern, Clackamas County Continuum of Care lead, called the award game changing.

“We will be able to get to youth and engage them in a way we just really haven’t had the ability to do before,” Ahern said. “We can work toward actually ending youth homelessness, which is something we could never really say before.”

Ahern said the $1.77 million in federal funding is for two years, and then available on an annual basis, which will likely add an additional $880,000 a year to the county’s homeless funding application process.

“We are going to be able to reduce youth homelessness significantly in Clackamas County,” Ahern said.

But now comes the hard part – figuring out how best to spend the money. For that, the county is relying on insight from local youths.

“I think it’s important to hear from everyone,” said 21-year-old Bobby Newell, a member of Clackamas County’s new Youth Action Board. “Whether it’s youth who’ve been homeless or the older population, it’s good to hear from people who have been through it.”

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At the age of 7, Newell was adopted from Russia by an American family who rejected him two months later due to his learning disability. To this day, Newell can’t read.

“They were a wealthy couple, and I think they were hoping to have a son who could one day take over the family business,” Newell said, without any obvious resentment in his voice. He still has the family’s surname.

Newell’s next move was to a couple that raised him but never formally adopted him. He refers to them as mom and dad.

“My parents were old school,” he said. “They taught me to get your act together or end up on the streets.”

And they meant it. At the age of 18, they kicked him out.

“I didn’t have my butt in gear, so they said you’re going to learn about life the hard way,” Newell said. “That’s just how it was. Now, people consider that child abuse.”

With the help of his uncle, Newell discovered the Springwater Transitional Living shelter in Johnson City. He spent nearly two years there working to save enough money to move into a home with roommates.

“If I hadn’t found Springwater, I would have been homeless for real – like living on the streets,” Newell said. “Most of these programs only serve people into their early 20s, so I realized I had to turn it around.”

Newell is considered a success story. He found himself homeless, sought help from a shelter and ended up with enough money to move into a home. But he’s one of the lucky ones.

“Most of these young people don’t have anyone helping them,” said Megan Spain, program director of The Inn youth shelter.

“Even in Bobby’s case, I served as his emergency contact. If kids aren’t in the foster care system or some other program, there’s nobody,” she said. “No housing, no caseworker, no attorney – none of that is happening for these youth. It’s pretty dire.”

Newell and the other members of the Youth Action Board now have a big job ahead of them. If they agree to be paid advisory board members, they will be tasked with helping brainstorming unique ways to reach young people experiencing homelessness.

“I find that young people in this new age have a lot of ideas, and it’s a whole different version of how we used to do things,” Newell said.

Ahern agrees, saying HUD recognizes that our traditional homeless programs may not serve youths in the best way possible. HUD wants to focus more on rapid rehousing – getting young people off the streets and into independent living situations.

The youth advisers also recommend better mediation services to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

“The youth are saying if they had help communicating with their parents earlier, before the conflict escalated, and people said hurtful things back and forth, and they were kicked out, it would’ve been helpful,” Ahern said.

Another idea is to make sure youths experiencing homelessness can access services and information from many different entry points, including social media and text messaging conversations.

“As I understand it, today’s youth are not interested in calling into a helpline number or sitting down for a one-on-one conversation at a day center,” Ahern said.

Services could be offered at schools, the Oregon Department of Human Services offices and treatment centers.

The youth action team also recommended drug and alcohol treatment and assessment services for those in transitional and affordable housing programs. Ahern said youths can lose their slots in some housing programs when they leave for a 90-day treatment program.

These are some of the initial ideas that are expected to percolate among the Youth Action Board, as other stakeholders also convene to determine how to spend this money. Once local priorities are determined, community partners will begin to apply to access the grant funds.

“We talk about ending homelessness in Clackamas County, and obviously it doesn’t mean no one will become homeless,” Ahern said. “But I think over time, this money and the ongoing funds it offers can get us pretty close to the goal of preventing more youth from becoming homeless and serving all homeless youth immediately after becoming homeless.”

That’s just the news Newell wanted to hear: Real action is on the way.

After living independently for a year, Newell is now back at a local youth shelter; but this time, in a different role. He’s working as a house manager at one of the county’s homeless youth facilities for younger children.

Springwater, the transitional center where Newell once lived, is now closed after being defunded last year. It served local youths for 18 years. Newell hopes this new HUD grant money will lead to the opening of a new and improved center where he can work with teens someday.

“It’s pretty rewarding to be on this panel and working with kids,” Newell said. “I now realize how good it feels to give back.”

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