When a young person ages out of foster care, they’re generally on their own. No surprise, then, that by the age of 25 a staggering 50% face homelessness. That’s where Youth Villages comes in.

When a young person ages out of foster care, they’re generally on their own. No surprise, then, that by the age of 25 a staggering 50% face homelessness. That’s where Youth Villages comes in.
LifeSet participants and staff from New Hampshire recently spoke about the needs of transition-age youth at a meeting of the American Public Human Services Association’s Economic Mobility & Well-Being Conference in Savannah, Georgia.
Andreia had a rough start. Her mother had a substance abuse problem and went to jail, sending Andreia and her older siblings to kinship care. One after another her siblings left home.
Youth Villages, a national nonprofit organization and a leader in the field of children’s mental and behavioral health, has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to offer LifeSet, a program that serves as a bridge from foster care to adulthood.
Brett Houle was in the Youth Villages LifeSet program in 2009. Eleven years later, he was reunited with Youth Villages when the moving company he works for, Two Men & a Truck,
When she was only 9 years old, Emely was abused by someone she thought she could trust. She was forced to do and see things no child should have to experience. For eight years, the abuse was constant and ongoing.
Meet Keshawna, a bright, intelligent, independent college freshman ready to take on the world. Looking at her, you would think her life was picture perfect, but it wasn’t.
Moving to a college can be an exciting yet anxious experience for many young people. For those aging out of foster care, applying to and even getting enrolled in a college can be a monumental task. That’s where LifeSet comes in.
At times, the hurt is too unbearable to return. When ties are cut, it can affect more than immediate family. It can reverberate through the community and sever bonds with friends, acquaintances and extended relatives. For Clarita, the pattern of hurt took a turn for the worse when she was 8 years old.
For many college students, the campus becomes like home. For LifeSet participant Zephaniah, college is literally providing him a home.