Homeless Youth Initiative

Tuesday, March 8^th at 10:30 at Emma, there will be a kickoff event for an initiative around youth homelessness that Oasis and the Metro Homeless Commission are co-leading.  If your schedule allows, you are welcome to attend.
 
15 different agencies and organizations have committed to a four-month intensive planning process with the following goal:
 
To prevent and end youth homelessness by designing and implementing a coordinated system of care among Nashville's homeless providers and youth serving agencies
 
On Tuesday the 8^th, we’ll be kicking off the process with two distinguished guests:  Mayor Megan Berry and Dr. Jama Shelton of the True Colors Fund out of NYC. 
 
Youth Homeless Initiative Kickoff
Tuesday March 8^th
10:30 to 11:30 AM
Emma’s Bistro (at the trolley barns near the CNM/Hands on Nashville)
9 Lea Ave, Nashville TN 37210
 
By all means please invite anyone else you feel would be interested in this important work.
 
More about the process:
 
When we closed the doors to our transitional living program at Oasis, we realized that to truly serve this population, the issue of youth homelessness needed to be one that Nashville embraced as a city.  At that time the Metro Homeless Commission and Oasis Center began talking with various stakeholders in Nashville on the provider side in Nashville, and in the past four months I’ve been thrilled with the response (list of steering committee members is attached, along with a one-page overview of the initiative).  Jama and The True Colors Foundation have helped several cities (Houston, Cincinnati, Miami, Seattle, etc) develop city-wide plans to address youth homelessness and they recently selected Nashville as the next city they would like to engage. 
 
The timing for this initiative is designed to put Nashville in a strong position for the anticipated increase in federal funding as we get closer to the USICH goal of ending all homelessness by 2020.  Already we know that $43 million is in next year’s budget for 10 pilot projects through HUD!
 
If your work schedule allows, we would love to have you there.