Our mission ...

to provide emergency shelter, short term housing and support services for homeless youth in a safe and nurturing environment.  Through such service, Avenues seeks to help youth achieve their personal goals and find a positive transition into young adulthood.

These are samples of the stories of our youth and the names have been changed to protect their identity.

Twin Cities Daily Planet - Services for Runaway, Homeless Youth in MN Threatened

Mentioned in this article is The Runaway and Homeless Youth Act, as well as Avenues for Homeless Youth and other youth serving agencies.

The Invisible Student by John Rosengren, Minneapolis Saint Paul Magazine - May 2008

In May 2008, Minneapolis Saint Paul Magazine published an article by John Rosengren titled The Invisible Student. The idea for this article came from the recent statistic stating there are more than 4,000 homeless or highly mobile students in Twin Cities schools. However, even with this large number you won't 'see' them. This article follows Ambrose, a former youth at Avenues, through the day and the life of the invisible student.

Latinka is a 20 year old young lady who has been homeless for on and off for 2 years.  She is originally from Mississippi and graduated high school early at the age of 17.  Latinka and her mother began to get in a lot of fights after high school and the death of her grandmother.  Although she did have a full time job and an apartment at one time, she lost her apartment when the building was sold and her job when she couldn’t find a place to live.  Latinka is working hard to get another job and start putting money in her savings account so that she can move into her own apartment.

Ally is a 18 year old girl who has been homeless for the past 2 months.  Ally did share an apartment with her friend but they weren’t able to pay their rent.  Ally does not get along with her family due to her sexual orientation.  She is looking for a good paying job and hopes to be able to go to school to become a police officer.

Kelly is a 17 year old girl who attends high school and works at a pizza restaurant.  She wants to go to college to be a nurse after she graduates.  Kelly has been homeless on and off for the last 2 years due to conflict with her mother.

Jack is 19 and works third shift at Target.  He was born in Illinois but moved to Minnesota with his mother and 4 sisters and brothers when he was 5.  Jack has been homeless for two years after a falling out with his family members and now only speaks occasionally to them.  Jack has many interests including martial arts, drawing and painting, designing martial arts equipment, gymnastics and braiding hair.

Janet is 18 years old and currently works full time at McDonalds and part time at the Mall of America.  She attends WOC school and is pursing her GED.  Janet’s goal is to have enough money to move into her own apartment by January.  Janet has been homeless for six months after the friend she was living with moved away.  Janet does not have a close relationship with her family and has been taking care of herself for several years.