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Chapter 1 - What is Eva's Phoenix?
Chapter 2 - Eva's National Initiative
Chapter 3 - Homeless Youth - Who Are They?
Chapter 4 - Effective Programs
for Homeless Youth
Chapter 5 - Developing the Vision
for Eva's Phoenix
Chapter 6 - Turning the Vision into Reality
Chapter 7 - Developing Strategic Partnerships
Chapter 8 - Working with Funders
Chapter 9 - Youth Goal-Setting and
Case Management Approach
Chapter 10 - Working with Youth
Chapter 11 - Mentorship
Chapter 12 - Working with Staff
Chapter 13 - Making the Transition
to Community
Chapter 14 - Social Enterprise
Chapter 15 - Evaluation
Chapter 16 - Policies and Procedures

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Chapter 5 - Developing the Vision for Eva’s Phoenix

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Lessons Learned

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Starting where the youth are at

Although people often talk about this group of youth in terms of their deficits, Eva’s Phoenix tries to provide the supports that will allow them to realize their potential. Much of the program design was based on conversations with the youth themselves about what they experienced when they tried to get out of the shelter system.

Eva’s Phoenix

Talking to the youth

According to Executive Director Maria Crawford, Eva’s Phoenix was born out of huge frustration. At the time, Eva’s ran two emergency shelters: Eva’s Place and Eva’s Satellite (OPENS NEW WINDOW) which focused on providing short-term emergency support to help youth get back on their feet. Unfortunately, the supports were not there to help them stay out of the shelter system for good. Welfare payments were a pittance, and those who did find employment were usually hardly better off, working in low-paying jobs that barely paid the rent.

They went to the youth themselves and asked why things were not working. This is what they were told:

  • Many of the jobs they got were marginal – few hours and low pay.
  • If jobs were tied to a government subsidy program, when the subsidy ran out, so did the job.
  • They were not always paid by unscrupulous employers who knew that the youth would not take them to court.
  • For many young women, the housing they could find was not acceptable – it was often unsafe, in part due to unsavoury landlords.
  • Many experienced feeling isolated.
  • Shelters did not have sufficient resources to provide needed follow-up support.

Continuing the conversation, Maria asked one youth what he would need to get out of the revolving door shelter system and living well in the community. His response was short and to the point: “Same as you, ma’am.” They were looking for jobs that were interesting and did not exploit them. They did not mind starting out at the bottom, but they did not want to stay there – they needed to see the possibility of advancement. They faced other issues when it came to housing and it soon became apparent that there were various reasons that their housing situations fell apart. They lacked some of the basic skills needed such as budgeting, cooking, cleaning and conflict management. They wanted a safe, affordable place to live, with private space (i.e. their own bedroom), and facilities to do their laundry and meet their basic needs. And they wanted to be part of a supportive network of other youth

 

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