Valuable. Incredible. Impactful.
Just a few of the words shared to describe Bright Futures for Youth’s half-day youth homelessness conference.
More than 100 people gathered to learn about the many challenges of youth homelessness. Panelists and speakers shared their concerns and detailed how we can improve community-wide efforts. We greatly appreciate everyone who attended and the organizations and speakers that participated.
Bright Futures’s SAFE (Stability, Access, Foundation, Empowerment) program has assisted more than 500 children and young adults ages 25 years of age and younger since 2020. SAFE staff is currently helping about 100 young people facing housing instability.
Young people discuss what it is like to face housing instability
The conference included a special panel with young people benefiting from the SAFE program who are currently facing or have experienced housing instability: Anjah, Emily, Gage and Lyla.
You can check their comments at the 34 minute mark of the conference.
Many thanks to our other panelists and speakers
Community leaders: Melissa Balderston, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools Independent Living Program Coordinator; Kaitlin Bisdee, SAFE Program Manager; Jeff Goldman, Nevada County Chief Probation Officer; Alissa Navo, Community Beyond Violence Housing Manager; and Rachel Pena, Nevada County Director of Social Services.
A special thanks to our partner on the conference, the California Coalition for Youth (Cal/Youth) and Executive Director Jevon Wilkes.