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Summit House - Transitional Homes for young women aging out of foster care

Empowering young women that are aging out of foster care, preventing homelessness, drug addiction or sex trafficking 

Leader

Genise Burgess

Location

East Side Cleveland , OH 44120

About the project

Summit House is a transitional housing initiative that will provide stable temporary housing, for up to two years, to young women, ages 18 - 22 who are aging out of foster care. Housing is a major need for this population in this age bracket, especially for young women, who sometimes find themselves homeless, incarcerated, victims of human trafficking or addicted to drugs.

 

Our program provides independent living skills, job/career development, and emotional support, so that each young woman may achieve independence.It is essential that young people have a safe place to live.  Housing stability contributes to educational attainment, gainful employment and is fundamental to a successful transition to adulthood.

The Steps

Our goal is to make Summit House  synonymous with excellence in transitional housing - a place of refuge and revitalization for young adult women

In addition to house, we will provide educational support opportunities and access to support services to build life skills.

Donations will be used to

  • Acquire property
  • Renovate houses
  • Furnish homes
  • Establish scholarships

Why we‘re doing it

Our aim is to provide transitional housing for young adults, between the ages of 18-24, who have aged out of the foster care system; to offer a safe, home-like environment with access to services that will prepare them to navigate their independence with confidence and success.

Housing is a major need for this population in this age bracket, especially for young women, who sometimes find themselves homeless, incarcerated, victims of human trafficking, or addicted to drugs.

And now with the pandemic, the need is even more urgently acute for this vulnerable community.

Youth Aging Out of Care at 18, by the Numbers…

  • 1-in-5 was homeless.
  • 36 percent of youth in one study had been homeless at least once by age 26; nearly half of those youth had been homeless more than once and nearly 75 percent had been homeless four or more times.
  • A third lived in at least three different places; 20 percent had lived in four or more.
  • Only 58 percent graduated high school by 19 (compared with 87 percent of all 19-year olds).
  • One-fifth of 26-year-old’s did not have a high school diploma or GED; only 8 percent of these young adults had earned a postsecondary degree.
  • Only 46 percent of youth in the same study were employed.
  • $13,989 was the average income earned at age 26 and 26 (compared to $32,312 for youth in the general population.
  • 1 in 4 was involved in the criminal justice system within 2 years of leaving care.
  • 30 percent of 21-year-old former foster youth reported criminal justice system involvement.
  • By age 26, the majority of young women and four-fifths of young men in the study had been arrested; nearly one-third of those young women and almost two-thirds of the young men had spent at least one night in jail since they were 18 years old.
  • Nearly 80 percent of young women became pregnant by age 26 (compared with 55 percent of young women in the general population).
  • Nonresident children of these mothers were most likely to be living with foster or adoptive parents (compared with nonresident children of mothers in the general population who were most likely to be living with grandparents or other relatives).

$6,775.00 / $6,775.00