Posada Youth Services Receives Domestic Hunger Grant
The Posada Youth Services program, located in Pueblo, Colorado, received a three-year grant as part of the 2020 cycle. This program serves homeless young adults between the ages of 16-25. Charlotte Bieber is the director and can be reached at charlotte.bieber@posadapueblo.org(link is external).
Young people of the age served by Posada are very vulnerable to drug abuse and sex trafficking as well as abuse from others living on the streets. The Posada youth program works to get these young adults off the streets, helping them to continue their education, to find employment, to live in stable housing, to believe in themselves, to find hope!
The Posada staff knows that working with this age group helps to prevent recidivism to future homelessness. The program has a permanent shelter/home which currently is housing six clients. Prior to the Covid-19 shutdowns, two of the youth were working full time, one at a call center and the other at a Dollar Tree Store. A third was working at a local restaurant. Four of the six are working on their degrees online through Pueblo Community College.
The program also serves other youth living on the streets by providing sack lunch meals and counseling. The $5,000 a year award from the ELCA Domestic Grant aided in the provision of food to the youth in the shelter and ont he streets. Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the closure of the street facility. However, eight of the youth living on the street are in temporary housing in a Motel Stay. The director is providing food boxes to these eight individuals.
The food is purchased through Care and Share and also Sam's Warehouse. Boxes include powdered milk, oatmeal, canned chili and beans, canned fruit and vegetables, cookies, and a can opener. One of the key factors in getting these young people to be productive citizens is providing them with food to eat and a safe place to sleep. Their daily lives no longer have to be that of "flight or fight."
Bieber tells the story of one young person, we'll call her Lydia, as an example of how the program can work. At the age of 18, Lydia is currently the youngest person in the program. She does not have a family and moved to Pueblo from Florida, living on the streets. She contacted the Posada Youth Program just prior to the Covid-19 shutdown. Bieber was able to house Lydia at the Motel Stay. Because she had a safe place to stay, food to eat, a shower and clean clothes, she is now working full time and hopes to soon have another job at a Walmart. Lydia plans to move into her own residence soon!