Shelter from the Storm: How Moosehaven and YCC Help Clay County’s Unaccompanied Homeless Youth By Nick Van Der Linden, Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida

Roger Quirantes, Transitional Living Specialist for Touchstone Village Clay, with one of their residents.

Shelter from the Storm:

How Moosehaven and YCC Help Clay County’s Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

By Nick Van Der Linden Director of Communications, LeadingAge Florida

At only the age of 17, Savannah traveled across the United States looking for a better and more stable future. Savannah lived without stable housing in California, so she connect ed with her father in Florida who promised her a place to stay and a better life. She left with only the clothes on her back and came to Florida to meet up with her dad. But none of what he had told her was true. Her father didn’t have his own place and was addicted to drugs, leaving her once again on her own to pick up the pieces. Savannah struggled mentally and emotionally, looking for safety, security, and guidance.

This is the unfortunate reality for far too many youth with unstable housing in Clay County and across the United States. These are young people who are not in the physi - cal custody of a parent or guardian and do not have stable or secure housing. According to the Clay County School Board, during the 2017-2018 school year, 118 unaccompanied homeless youth were enrolled. According to the non-profit organization, SchoolHouse Connection, 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness each year.

John Capes, Executive Director of Moosehaven Retirement Community at the time this story was written, was approached by the Clay County Police Chief. The Chief told Capes that Orange Park Town Council mem bers were concerned about this situation and tried to find a solution for the unaccompa nied homeless youth in their county. They specifically wanted to identify students who were temporarily displaced and give them a place to live, sleep and eat, ultimately to re move as many hurdles as possible to help with their high school education.

Capes attended a committee meeting and offered up Moosehaven’s services in support. Moosehaven was eager to take on the chal lenge. The active retirement community—located on the banks of the St John’s River that houses senior residents typically above the age of 65—now had new residents, 18-yearolds without a place to call home.

Moosehaven provided rooms, food, re lationships with the elderly, and even jobs for the teenagers as part of the initiative. For Capes, it became part of the Moose’s mission and the first step toward a bigger picture.

“Think about your high school experi ence,” Capes said. “Think about whether it was about fun or whether it was about a safe and warm place to stay for six hours of the

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101 NE 3rd Avenue, Suite 1500 Fort Lauderdale, 33301 day. For many that’s what it’s about. The ability to bring them to Moosehaven is great. Our residents are excited to have these young people on their campus because they can interface with them and it’s like a childgrandparent relationship. They can learn from each other and it heals the heart to be able to blend the two generations together.”

Capes said that while all the youth graduated high school throughout the duration of their time at Moosehaven and they were able to provide a lot of the necessary resources, there were some components the Moose simply wasn’t able to manage.

“We had to be everything to those children,” Capes said. “The problem was that we didn’t have the resources to be the life coaches they needed us to be. We didn’t have the opportunity to go through the day with each child and identify troubling circumstances as they developed.”

A Partner in Need

Enter Touchstone Stone Village of Clay, a program apart of the Youth Crisis Center (YCC) that was founded in 1974 as Florida’s first runaway pro gram and is now one of the largest and best-known providers for youth and families. Touchstone Village offers transitional living services for young adults ages 18-21 who may be homeless, need independent living skills, are aging out of foster care, are leaving a group home, or find them selves in a variety of other situations that limit self-sufficiency.

“We connected with John and Moosehaven and saw a perfect opportu nity for a long-lasting partnership,” said Kim Sirdevan, President and CEO of Youth Crisis Center. “Our program depends heavily on community part nerships, and Moosehaven is a big part of that.”

Capes said Touchstone Village saved the initiative by providing the much-needed extra time and resources.

“For many of these youth, their upbringing has been difficult,” Sirdevan said. “Most of us think that when someone is 18, they are ready to move out, but in these instances that is certainly not the case. We think they’re ready to get a job and sit in a classroom, but these youth are at the very basics in terms of their development.

Sirdevan elaborated on the challenges these youth also face. “They have endured significant trauma. Whether it is drug or alcohol abuse, deaths, false promises, you name it; we’ve probably seen it all,” she said. We’ve even had one young adult who was caged for half their life. Literally liv ing in a dog cage. When someone endures this type of trauma throughout their youth, it does not automatically place them at an 18-year-old mind set when they reach 18 years of age. That is where we come in. We start with the basics. Getting up every morning, brushing your teeth, and leav ing and arriving on time.”

YCC has three programs in Clay County: short-term outpatient counsel ing, twice-a-week designated school walk-in clinics that are available to youth and adults, and therapy.

“We want those who are at-risk or simply need help to seek our ser vices as well,” said Cecelia Stalnaker-Cauwenberghs, Touchstone Village of Clay Chief Clinical Officer. “As busy as normal families are, kids can lack the necessary resources. We can help teach them life skills such as writ ing checks, saving money, cooking, and more. Through our funding we are able to also offer mental health therapy or psychiatry free of charge. We can also help pay for certain medications while working to get them health insurance.”

The services provided by Touchstone Village of Clay are invaluable, but what might be the most unique of all is their house-parent service model. This is where several young adults live together in the same home and have a house parent seven days a week.

“This is more than just housing,” Sirdevan said. “It’s a program, which means our staff interfaces with them constantly and they’re required to meet certain goals to continue in the program.”

Stalnaker-Cauwenberghs added that the presence of a parent figure and structure makes a significant difference.

“They’re placed into a situation where they have safe, stable housing in a non-judgmen tal environment,” she said. “When they are stressed or upset, they can come home and have each other or a parent to talk to. They also go grocery shopping each Sunday and have dinner every day at 6 p.m., providing much-needed structure. Because everyone is from different walks of life, everyone had to get used to the different smells of everyone’s style of cooking. This past Thanksgiving, they even cooked their own meal together.”

Moosehaven remains a significant part of the program. The retirement community owns the housing in which the youth live and also helps employ those youth that are interested in working on the campus.

“Moosehaven assists with housing, but is also key in employability,” Sirdevan said. “Of course, everyone still has to go through the interview process, but if they’re hired, Moosehaven provides a variety of profes sional attributes to these young people.”

Capes added that because of the services provided by Touchstone Village, the youth are now much better prepared for profes sional development opportunities than in the past.

“Thanks to the services provided by Touch stone, students are much better prepared for social interaction with residents,” he said. “Previously we weren’t able to provide the necessary mental and developmental ser vices. But now, you can tell that relationships and friendships with residents are even bet ter. Residents and students get invested in each other and it’s great to see the continued development in self-worth and self-esteem.”

According to Generations Unlimited, in teractions with youth are beneficial for older adults as well. It can energize them and give them a sense of purpose, especially when sharing their experience and skills. Working with young adults also can have health ben efits. Older adults who regularly volunteer or interact with children burn more calories per week, experience fewer falls, and do better on memory tests than their peers.

Partnerships like the one between the Youth Crisis Center and Moosehaven truly

Roger Quirantes of Touchstone Village Clay meets with residents.

embody the value and importance of bring ing generations together through intergenerational programs.

Thanks to programs like the Youth Crisis Center’s Touchstone Village, youth like Sa vannah have a fighting chance at getting their life back on track. Savannah was able to get connected with the program, get the help she needed, and recently found a job and is set to graduate high school.

As for Moosehaven’s investment into the program, there is no end in sight.

“The vision is to get more property, create a village to serve more youth and be able to tie it to an outpatient setting,” Capes said.

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