社區(qū)合作助流浪女走出街頭

In November 2013， Seton Youth Shelters， a Family and Youth Services Bureau’s street outreach program grantee serving the Hampton Roads region of Virginia， got a call from a youth-serving agency in Portsmouth. This group had just made contact with Sandra， a young woman who had been homeless for weeks， and thought she’d be a good fit for Seton’s residence. That first call was all it took to help Sandra start to turn her life around： by day’s end， she was in the main Seton Youth Shelters facility， developing a plan to get off the street.

Kathy Jeffries， Seton’s Development Community Outreach Director， says that these kinds of community partnerships are invaluable for an agency that serves an area of 930 square miles.

By the time Jeffries’ colleagues in the street outreach program got in touch with her， Sandra was in better shape than many homeless youth. She had two job interviews coming up， for example， though she lacked a means of actually getting to them. One street outreach worker secured bus passes for her， while others reached out to different community partners like Virginia Job Corps and VIP Hair Studios to get her new， professional clothes， resume-writing help， and an interview-appropriate haircut. The work paid off， and Sandra got her job.

By January， Sandra was a resident at Cassady House， Seton Youth Shelters’ residence for 18-24 year-olds. With the help of her case managers and supporters there， she enjoyed a stable address while starting the new job. Her success is a tribute to Seton Youth Shelters’ wide network of local agencies who can pull together and get young people like Sandra into a safe， supportive environment on short notice.

“The love and support I got from them is indescribable，” Sandra says now. “SOP staff and the Virginia Job Corps staff worked tirelessly， helping me complete my application and get accepted. They didn’t know my struggle， but they made sure they helped me make it and reach my goals.”

2013年11月一家位于樸茨茅斯的青年服務(wù)機構(gòu)發(fā)現(xiàn)一位叫桑德拉的女性已經(jīng)在街上流浪多日后，立即給西頓青年庇護所（家庭和青年服務(wù)局下屬的一家專門服務(wù)弗吉尼亞州漢普頓街區(qū)的街頭救助機構(gòu)）打了電話，向其咨詢桑德拉是否滿足西頓庇護所收容的條件，僅僅這一個電話就改變了桑德拉的生活。西頓發(fā)展和社區(qū)救助主任凱西·杰弗里說，這種社區(qū)合作對于一個要服務(wù)930平方英里區(qū)域的機構(gòu)來說無疑是十分寶貴的。杰弗里的同事開展的援助項目找到桑德拉時，她的境遇比一般的流浪青年已經(jīng)要好了，她有了兩個面試機會，就是缺乏成功應(yīng)聘的條件。街頭救助人員隨即幫助桑德拉申請了公交卡，送給她新的職業(yè)裝，教會她美化簡歷的技巧，還陪她做了新的職業(yè)發(fā)型，在他們的幫助下桑德拉很快就找到了一份工作。一月份桑德拉住進了西頓青年庇護所的住所，新工作伊始就有了一份穩(wěn)定的住處。

“我從他們那里得到了超乎想象的關(guān)愛和支持”，桑德拉感激得說，“從我申請工作一直到被正式錄用，西頓青年庇護所和弗吉尼亞州工作救助隊一直不厭其煩得幫助我。是他們讓我得到了這份工作，讓我實現(xiàn)了人生目標。”

[http：//www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/health/obamacare-transgender-surgery/index.html？hpt=he_c2]