Last week, the National Youth Forum on Homelessness (NYFH) met in Houston, TX to strategize national efforts to end youth homelessness with other movement leaders.
NYFH is a group comprised exclusively of young people and facilitated by the True Colors Fund and National Alliance to End Homelessness, which contributes to the growing national dialogue on how to make youth homelessness “rare, brief, and one-time.” Last week was a huge week for the movement to end youth homelessness. NYFH members participated in listening sessions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Away Home America. These conversations are a key part of developing effective strategies to end youth homelessness. Why? Because each NYFH member is an expert, having experienced homelessness or housing instability firsthand.
Topics discussed include the following:
- What strategizes can communities use to engage young people in the design and development of initiatives to end youth homelessness?
- What barriers exist for young people wanting to participate in this process?
- How can we recruit other young people to get involved?
- How can HUD and other partners reach and build working relationships with LGBT youth and other populations?
- How can NYFH help support community work on the ground?
- Should the movement to end youth homelessness have a collective voice and mission? What are the risks/benefits involved?
NYFH members will continue to have these conversations and more, further centering the voices and ideas of young people with lived experiences of homelessness.
Interested in what else NYFH has been up to? Read up on their recent work here!