FOOD FRONT SUPPORTS YELLOW BRICK ROAD!

Yellow Brick Road has once again been selected for participation in Food Front's generous Bean Bag program! Food Front is one of Portland's longest-running cooperatively owned grocery stores and their Bean Bag program allows customers to donate 5 cents to various local non-profit organizations every time they shop with their own bags. Next time you shop at Food Front, we hope you'll bring your own recycled shopping bag and consider donating 5 cents to Yellow Brick Road. Those nickels really add up and make a difference!

Food Front Cooperative Grocery
2375 NW Thurman Street
Portland, Oregon
(503) 222-5658

SEVERE WEATHER CALLED FOR MONDAY APRIL 21!

Severe Weather has been called again in Multnomah County for Monday April 21st. This means no one seeking shelter will be turned away tonight. TB cards will be waived due to expected freezing conditions. Agencies may also have some ability to provide hotel vouchers to families with children needing shelter or for medically frail adults who cannot otherwise access the emergency shelters below. For more information contact the WINTER SHELTER HOTLINE from 5-8pm at (503) 721-1500.

Youth/Young Adults to Age 21:

Janus Youth Programs operates both crisis and short-term shelter year-round. There is often room in their crisis shelter so please refer male, female and transgender youth who are under 21 to this service. Please contact Street Light Shelter at (503) 432-3986 or (503) 222-5933 (after 11pm). Janus Youth Shelters are located at located at 1635 SW Alder, Portland. Youth and Young Adults, age 18 and older, are also welcome at the Adult Shelters, including the Severe Weather Shelter Sites for Adults.

Women Only:

Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter (SAFES)
Ankeny Entry at Harbor Light Site (2nd and Burnside) (503) 731-3942. Space for 12 additional single women via mats on the floor in the day space during severe weather. Day space open 7am to 11pm daily. Shelter open 7:45pm to 7:00 am daily. No pets or carts. Not disability accessible due to steep stairs.

Men Only:

City Team Ministries
526 SE Grand Avenue (503) 231-9334. Space for 10 additional single men via mats on the floor in the main room during severe weather. May also be open during the days during severe weather. Typically there is a $ 4 per night charge, which includes sleeping space and a meal. No pets, and limited space for belongings. Accessible location

Portland Rescue Mission
111 W. Burnside (503) 227-0859. Space for 70 additional single men via mats on the floor in the lobby, may also be open during the days during severe weather. No pets, and limited space for belongings. Accessible location.

SEVERE WEATHER CALLED FOR APRIL 18th-20th!

Severe Weather has been called in Multnomah County for the following nights: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday April 18-20th. This means no one seeking shelter will be turned away this weekend. TB cards will be waived due to expected freezing conditions. Agencies may also have some ability to provide hotel vouchers to families with children needing shelter or for medically frail adults who cannot otherwise access the emergency shelters below:

Youth/Young Adults to Age 21:

Janus Youth Programs operates both crisis and short-term shelter year-round. There is often room in their crisis shelter so please refer male, female and transgender youth who are under 21 to this service. Please contact Street Light Shelter at (503) 432-3986 or (503) 222-5933 (after 11pm). Janus Youth Shelters are located at located at 1635 SW Alder, Portland. Youth and Young Adults, age 18 and older, are also welcome at the Adult Shelters, including the Severe Weather Shelter Sites for Adults.

Women Only:

Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter (SAFES)
Ankeny Entry at Harbor Light Site (2nd and Burnside) (503) 731-3942. Space for 12 additional single women via mats on the floor in the day space during severe weather. Day space open 7am to 11pm daily. Shelter open 7:45pm to 7:00 am daily. No pets or carts. Not disability accessible due to steep stairs.

Men Only:

City Team Ministries
526 SE Grand Avenue (503) 231-9334. Space for 10 additional single men via mats on the floor in the main room during severe weather. May also be open during the days during severe weather. Typically there is a $ 4 per night charge, which includes sleeping space and a meal. No pets, and limited space for belongings. Accessible location

Portland Rescue Mission
111 W. Burnside (503) 227-0859. Space for 70 additional single men via mats on the floor in the lobby, may also be open during the days during severe weather. No pets, and limited space for belongings. Accessible location.

Outreach Log

One of our amazing volunteers celebrates her 13th year as a Yellow Brick Road outreach worker this week! This makes her our longest-running & most consistent volunteer in the history of the program. Although she wishes to remain anonymous, we wish to thank "J" very much for her dedication to Yellow Brick Road and her incredible energy on the streets of Portland. Thanks for everything you do! It's an honor to have you with us. And in an effort to further celebrate her work with Yellow Brick Road, we are publishing a recent log entry from her team's shift. The following excerpts represent one 3-hour outreach shift on-foot in downtown Portland:

Busy out there tonight! 145 guys and 56 gals, which is a record for me I think. Sheesh. Everywhere we went was really busy, especially under the Steel Bridge and Burnside Bridge...Huge crowds of people and an unusual number of Hispanic men that didn't speak English. Oh, I wish I spoke Spanish on nights like tonight! We were able to refer one man to Outside In medical clinic for chest pains. He was near tears from the pain but refused medical treatment and said he had already been to the hospital. He assured us that he would go to Outside In tomorrow and we gave him a Rose City Resource Guide for other services...We met a man named "Johnny" under the Burnside Bridge who accepted lots of first aid supplies. He said he likes to stock up and distribute supplies to people he meets on the streets. He explained that this prevents him from "having to patch people up with duct tape", like the stab wound he apparently tended to earlier in the evening! Also, his dog "K9" was one of the cutest animals I've ever met! Our hygiene kits were very popular on the streets tonight! People are very appreciative of them...We met a boy who was vague and non-commital about the source of bleeding on his face. If we had to guess I'd say it was a steel-toe boot injury or something similar! We ran out of all first-aid supplies tonight. Everyone needed stuff...our bags were really close to empty by 8pm! At PGE Park we encountered lots of younger folks...things seem to be getting more out-of-hand at the Fireman's Memorial...more alcohol use, more drama, and more shouting than usual. We reminded people to be respectful while they are hanging out at the Memorial. We'll give a heads up to shelter staff as well...There was also a high volume of women on the streets tonight. We gave lots of referrals to S.A.F.E. (Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter). Overall, an incredibly busy and productive night our there!
~J & J (Monday Night Yellow Brick Road Team)

* Thanks again "J"!
Here's to many more years with Yellow Brick Road...

Child Abuse still rampant in the U.S.

Researchers have recently made public their findings in a nation-wide study that 1 in 50 U.S. infants under one year of age are victims of non-fatal child abuse or neglect. 1 in 50 is a sobering number. The researchers counted more than 91,000 infant victims of abuse and neglect in the period October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006. The information came from a national database of cases verified by protective services agencies in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. "Things like abandonment and newborn drug addiction would qualify as neglect, not things like parents learning how to be parents," said study co-author Rebecca Leeb, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And just on the heels of this study comes the almost indescribable account of a 26 year old man beating a 2 year old girl to death with a video game remote control in York, Pennsylvania this week. Apparently the child's 19 year old mother overheard her boyfriend beating the child from the next room but did not intervene until after the boyfriend had attempted to revive the unconscious girl in a bathtub. The 2 year old was pronounced dead the following day at Hershey Medical Center, police Lt. Ron Camacho said. Youth advocates take heed and take courage! We've still got a lot to do to make this world a safer place for children.

VOLUNTEER TRAINING MAY 4th!

Yellow Brick Road invites you to attend our upcoming FREE volunteer training on Sunday May 4th! Our trainings are a great opportunity to learn more about street outreach and meet the current volunteer outreach teams. This training will focus on street mental health and we will have a guest speaker from Kaiser share with us some common symptoms of mental health we are likely to see on the streets and how we might engage with people experiencing mental health issues more effectively. We'll also discuss some basic coping skills to share with young people dealing with mental health on the streets. We'll even consider our own mental health and take a look at the unique self-care challenges faced by those of us who advocate for people experiencing crisis and trauma. This promises to be a thought-provoking afternoon! We'll get started at 2pm with food & coffee.

SUNDAY MAY 4th
2-5pm

Please R.S.V.P. for location: dlundberg@janusyouth.org

NOW HIRING!

Project Metamorphosis is currently looking for Recovery Mentors and Recovery Transition Advocates to fill entry level, part-time positions within an innovative grant program. Position involves ability to act as a peer among 16-24 year old street youth, providing support, information, referral and crisis intervention to homeless and street dependent youth. Candidates will have experience with addiction issues and homelessness. Qualifications include: experience and/or knowledge of the issues of homelessness and drug and alcohol addiction, GED/high school diploma preferred, at least 1 year in recovery required as well as a pre-employment drug screening.

Position closes April 7, 2008.

Please call (503) 535-1170 for more information.

Outreach Log

People often ask what an evening of Yellow Brick Road Street Outreach actually looks like. The truth is, the streets can vary greatly from night to night but we do our best to be prepared for just about anything we might find out there. In an effort to share with people what we mean by "anything", we'll be posting random Yellow Brick Road log entries. Let's get started with an entry from a particularly eventful night this past weekend. The following excerpts represent one 3-hour outreach shift on-foot in downtown Portland:

Tonight we kept a relaxed pace and enjoyed the beautiful weather but still made lots of connections and managed to accomplish some solid outreach. First we headed over to Pioneer Square where a kid with face-paint and a black trench coat was reciting excerpts from the Satanic Bible (!). It didn't seem like he had actually read the book very thoroughly, but his audience seemed attentive & generally pleased to be hearing such a different sort of discourse. There was some lively debate and dialogue, after all this is Portland's living room, so we sat on the steps with some young people who shared their thoughts about the controversial religious debate taking place. By the Max rail we met a 19 year old male who we'd never seen before who said he was preferring to sleep outdoors at the moment. We gave him information about the Janus Youth Shelters and showed him where he could go if he wanted services then moved on...

We headed north from Pioneer Square and found "Amy" (19) and "Sky" (22) in front of Rite Aid, where we shared a candid conversation about their escalating intravenous drug use. We also talked about safe travelling, Amy's obviously above-average intelligence, and how she might be an excellent writer or college professor someday if she can just get it together. They said they plan to ride freight trains together to New York City next week so we cautioned them about east coast heroin (commonly referred to as "china white") which is notoriously (and dangerously) stronger than most west coast heroin (commonly referred to as "black tar"). We informed them that people often overdose on "china white" when they arrive in New York and inject their usual dose of "black tar". We cautioned them that if they continue their drug use they should always use with a friend present and do a small amount to test the purity before injecting their regular dose (this is called a "tester shot"). Harm Reduction saves lives!

Under the Burnside Bridge we met three young folks who are fairly new to town and we sent them to Road Warrior [the Homeless Youth Continuum's late night drop-in). It seemed as though they had already attempted to access but could not verify their ages so we explained how Janus might be able to help them get ID's. We then ran into "Dots" (17) by the Skidmore Fountain. She's not doing well and said she has been awake for two days on meth. She occasionally stays in Porchlight Shelter but has been using heavily. When she doesn't stay at shelter she seems to camp with much older men and is possibly trading sex for drugs (based on her current associates and some of the street drama she reported). She really needs some support right now so all teams please be looking for her and let's do our best to redirect her back to shelter and case management...

Lots of outreach occured at the meal under the Burnside Bridge and along the waterfront by the Steel Bridge. Back near Old Town we met a woman calling herself "Ocean" who said she was attempting to get away from an abusive partner who pulled a knife on her earlier in the day. She said she left their Southeast Portland apartment to avoid "getting my ass beat again" and said her boyfriend was looking for her downtown. She knew about the Portland Women's Crisis Line but said all the domestic violence shelters were already full. We told her we might be able to advocate for her with the Portland Police and get her referred into an emergency bed at a local shelter and she agreed to walk with us to the Old Town cop shop. When we arrived, the officer we spoke with was rushing to the Ross Island Bridge where two people had just reportedly jumped! All we could do was hope we don't know them. We then escorted "Ocean" to the Salvation Army Female Shelter where she was able to wait inside safely while we called police non-emergency for an escort to the emergency shelter bed. It felt good knowing that we were able to get her safely indoors even if for just one night. Especially considering how frustrating domestic violence situations can be due to a lack of space at the existing programs...

On the way back to the office we met three teenage girls on the Max who had obviously just been in some sort of altercation with another young female. we struck up casual conversation and learned that all three are currently housed or "couch surfing" but they seemed very high-risk. One of them said she had dropped-out of high school and another said it was unlikely that she would make it through another year. we gave them our contact info, explained what we do and how we might be able to help. We also talked about how important it is to stay in school and just get it done now rather than going for the G.E.D. later. She said she knew but shrugged and said, "I don't know what will happen..."

Wow. Busy night!
~D & J (Sunday Night Yellow Brick Road Team)

Yellow Brick Road Volunteer Training

Thanks to everyone who responded to our upcoming homeless youth panel. THE TRAINING IS NOW FULL. Due to the high volume of R.S.V.P.'s we've received we're posting our next training opportunity way in advance. Please R.S.V.P. as soon as possible if you're interested in attending:

MENTAL HEALTH ON THE STREETS!
SUNDAY MAY 4TH
2PM-5PM

We will have a guest speaker from Kaiser share with us some common mental health symptoms we are likely to see on the streets and how we might engage with people experiencing mental health issues more effectively. We'll also discuss some basic coping skills to share share with young people dealing with mental health on the streets. Please R.S.V.P. to dlundberg@janusyouth.org

HIGHER GROUND

The National Weather Service is forecasting heavy rain in Portland this week between Wednesday and Thursday. There is also a potential for several inches of rain over the weekend. We are not expecting any serious flooding, but if you are sleeping outdoors- or know someone who is camping outdoors- please be aware and take to higher ground if necessary. We will update with Severe Weather Alerts as more information becomes available.

Feb. 3...warming stations CLOSED tonight!

Portland's Severe Weather Warming Shelters are closed tonight. Sunday is NOT a severe weather night.

THE KIDS WILL HAVE THEIR SAY!

Ever wonder what it's like to live on the streets? Want to know the truth about "street families"? Want to know how adults might more effectively engage with vulnerable young people? Yellow Brick Road has invited homeless (& formally homeless) youth and young adults from our community to participate in a very special afternoon of training. Join us as we...ASK THE EXPERTS!

WHEN: Sunday February 24th

TIME: 2pm-5pm

WHERE: Please R.S.V.P. for location at (503)789-4011 or dlundberg@janusyouth.org

photo by kif

Severe Weather Called for January 25th!

Severe Weather has been declared again for Friday January 25th. NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY FROM SHELTER TONIGHT! In addition to the previously announced Severe Weather Shelters, Dignity Village has just announced that they will provide emergency space for 10 extra people on Severe Weather nights. For more information please visit 211 INFO

Severe Weather Called for January 24th!

Severe Weather has been declared again for Thursday January 24th. This is likely to remain in effect through the weekend but we will update as soon as this is confirmed. NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY FROM SHELTER TONIGHT! In addition to the previously announced Severe Weather Shelters, Dignity Village has just announced that they will provide emergency space for 10 extra people on Severe Weather nights. For more information please visit 211 INFO

Yellow Brick Road Training This Sunday!

You are invited to attend our upcoming
YELLOW BRICK ROAD VOLUNTEER TRAINING

WHEN: SUNDAY January 27th (2-5pm)

WHERE: Please R.S.V.P. for location: dlundberg@janusyouth.org

This training is FREE and open to anyone interested in learning more about our street outreach program. This is a great opportunity to meet our current team of volunteers and learn more about Portland's longest running volunteer-based street outreach program! Applications will be available after the training.

Severe Weather Called for January 22 & 23!

The puddles are already frozen despite the unusual appearance of a mid-winter sun in Portland! Multnomah County has opened emergency warming stations for the next two nights. NO ONE WILL BE DENIED ACCESS TO SHELTERS TONIGHT. If you need any assistance getting to a warming station, please call Yellow Brick Road at (503) 789-4011 between 6pm-10pm.

Severe Weather Called For Tuesday January 15th

We experienced some unexpected ice last night and this morning and the forecast is calling for similar conditions tonight. The Estate & Calvary Christian Church have opened up emergency warming stations. NO ONE WILL BE DENIED ACCESS TO SHELTERS TONIGHT. Please see the information below regarding available shelters, locations, and eligibility. If you need any assistance getting to a warming station, please call Yellow Brick Road at (503) 789-4011 between 6pm-10pm.

Positive Youth Development

Positive Youth Development is an approach to working with young people that focuses on their development and strengths instead of their problems or deficits. Based on emerging research into human resiliency and brain development, the principles and practices of the Positive Youth Development model have become a recognized best practice for youth programs and an increasingly accepted method of re-thinking our approach with young people. At Janus Youth Programs Positive Youth Development informs nearly every aspect of our work with street-entrenched youth & young adults. In this spirit, and thanks to the generous support of the Hoover Family Foundation, we have implemented a series of youth-driven workshops and field trips over the past year in an effort to build positive adult relationships and self-esteem and to draw our young clients out of the "comfort zone" of street life and low expectations. First we created a suggestion box which became a prominent fixture at our weekly stationary outreach program Portland: Outreach & Engagement. The suggestion box was designed to inspire participants to identify topics of interest and take ownership of the planning process and workshop agendas. Once ideas were selected from the box, youth were encouraged to co-facilitate workshops according to their individual interests, skills, and enthusiasm. At every opportunity staff fostered an environment in which young people felt safe in their vulnerability of taking on leadership roles, making mistakes, and accepting new challenges. This was astoundingly clear at our recent Stencil Art Workshop! We have documented extensive "measurable outcomes" and exceeded our own expectations in terms of successful results, but the photos and beautiful artwork we captured at this workshop speak louder than the reports. Please take a look at the following photos and feel free to drop a line if you are interested in implementing similar workshops at your own agency. We'd be happy to further share with you our experiences.

The workshop was co-facilitated by Rhythm Kenaley-Lundberg, a 13 year-old 8th grade student who volunteered his time and expertise to demonstrate how stencils are created. Thanks, Rhythm!

The first part of the process consisted of brainstorming ideas and thinking about "negative space"...

"NEVER SUBMIT"

"Matt" co-facilitated the workshop along with Rhythm. "Matt" is a very artistic 21 year-old who recently moved into permanent housing through Janus Youth Programs' Clean & Sober Housing Program!

Rhythm finishes cutting out his cowboy stencil...

Outside on our building's Youth Mural Wall, Rhythm lines up his stencil and covers it with spraypaint

"Yeehaw!"

Matt's very first stencil is a resounding success!

Matt decides to attempt a multi-colored design and consults with Rhythm on the best approach...

It turned out beautifully!

"J" sets up his stencil...

The finished piece!

It was an amazing afternoon!
Look for more postings on our workshops and Positive Youth Development soon...

Severe Weather Called For Wednesday January 9th!

The forecast is once again calling for very cold and rainy weather tonight so The Estate & Calvary Christian Church have opened up emergency warming stations. NO ONE WILL BE DENIED ACCESS TO SHELTERS TONIGHT. Please see the information below regarding available shelters, locations, and eligibility.

Severe Weather Called For Tuesday January 8th

The forecast is calling for very cold and rainy weather again tonight, with a wind-chill factor that will make it feel like 25 degrees. Multnomah County has declared a Severe Weather Alert for Tuesday January 8th. NO ONE WILL BE DENIED ACCESS TO SHELTERS TONIGHT. Please see the information below regarding available shelters.