Press Release: Tau Grant

Local homeless youth program selected for Allegany Franciscan Ministries Inc’s Tau Grant

MIAMI, FL, Jan 21, 2010 – Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc. has selected the Miami chapter of StandUp For Kids for an annual Tau Grant of $4,900 for year 2010. This grant has been provided to StandUp For Kids for initiating the “Miami Task Force for Homeless Youth.”

It is estimated that there are close to 3,000 homeless youth in Miami-Dade County and well over 1.5 million nationwide. According to the National Center of Family Homelessness, Florida ranks at a staggering 43^rd position, 7 positions up from the bottom of the list, in its care to homeless youth. Miami-Dade County Public Schools officially classified 2,382 students as homeless during the 2008-09 school year. By the end of September 2009, they had already classified double the number of eligible youth compared to the same period in 2008. These numbers don’t take into account the scores of youth not identified or not attending school.  Because very few services exist for youth in these situations, StandUp For Kids formed the Task Force to build a network of community agencies and leaders to address key challenges and improvements.

The Miami Task Force for Homeless Youth is an initiative that will serve as a cooperative and participatory working group of dozens of pubic and private organizations with goals of (1) preventing youth from becoming homeless, and (2) providing integrated services for those who become homeless, in and out of their families. The Task Force will connect and mobilize leaders from various fields of expertise, including the fields of health, shelter, law, schooling, policing, foster care, juvenile justice, government, and child advocacy. The Task Force will conduct its work through quarterly summit meetings, more periodic planning group meetings, and ongoing dialogue via a new web portal at www.miamitaskforce.org.  Members will solve root problems collaboratively, build a better continuum of care, and partner on service, funding, and legislative initiatives for homeless youth. The first session of the task force was convened on 20 Nov 2009.

The Tau Grant will fund development of the Task Force website to serve as a community advocacy portal. It will also cover travel scholarships for members to advocate in Tallahassee, fund small projects that birth from the Task Force planning groups, support expert training in community organizing and youth homelessness issues, and cover expenses related to summit meetings and marketing.

Eddy Ameen, the executive director of StandUp For Kids – Miami accepted the grant and said, “This funding allows us to form an effective community response to a huge problem that is best treated by the whole community. We are so thankful to Allegany Franciscan Ministries for validating our work with homeless youth and our ability to convene an effective, groundbreaking Task Force.”

“This grant is a very welcome gift to take this initiative forward in 2010 and the best New Year gift for the homeless youth in Miami” said a jubilant Bill Beitz, the Chair of the Advisory Council for StandUp for Kids – Miami.

Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc. is a non-profit Catholic organization focused on improving the overall health status of individuals through increasing access to health services, information and providing grants to organizations working for this cause in Florida.

StandUp For Kids is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all volunteer organization formed in 1990 to recruit, train, and organize the work of community leaders and volunteers to end the exploitation of homeless youth who survive on the streets. StandUp For Kids relies solely on an all-volunteer workforce of caring adults to improve the safety, well-being, and futures of homeless and street youth and at-risk youth through hands-on direct support and relationship building. The Miami chapter is one of 43 independently funded and maintained local programs and has been working on the streets of Miami since 2004.

StandUp For Kids provides a variety of programs and resources for youth. In addition to Street Outreach, their mentoring program at a youth shelter offers kids basic life skills and social skills. Their Don’t Run Away program teaches elementary and middle school students how to safely remove themselves from abusive situations. Outside of the classroom, they organize drives to collect food, clothing, and funding to better serve the diverse needs of homeless youth.

In some cities, StandUp For Kids also operates Outreach Centers, giving youth the chance to drop-in to a safe environment and receive comprehensive services under one roof. The Miami program hopes to establish its own center in the near future.

Volunteers and supporters are always in demand. To get involved in the Task Force, please visit www.miamitaskforce.org. For more information about StandUp For Kids, please visit www.standupforkids.org or call 786-371-1980.

# # #