Baltimore Homeless Youth Initiative

MANY is a convener and facilitator for the BHYI. This initiative was created in response to a need for a comprehensive continuum of housing, resources, services and care for Baltimore’s homeless and unstably housed youth and young adults between the ages of 14-24. While Baltimore has many valuable resources for the homeless, there are significant gaps, especially for older youth. Very few services are available for youth under 18 and most facilities and programs are not designed to be developmentally appropriate for youth ages 16-24. They do not have the capacity to provide significant supplementary service and there are few coordinated linkages among the services to this population. In 2007, BHYI and MANY received a three year Compassion Capital Communities Empowering Youth grant for $750,000 from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal of the grant is to increase the sustainability and capacity of BHYI and the community to serve homeless youth. The grant provides funding for technical assistance and training in the areas of leadership development, organizational development, program development and community engagement.