Transitional Age Youth Housing at Center of Hope

The Center of Hope will be more than just a clinic to meet the medical, dental and behavioral health needs of our community.  We are building a 5,000 sq./ft. housing unit to support Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) in the community.  The housing component will be an expansion of our existing HOST (Helping Overlooked Students Thrive) program.  The HOST program provides case management services to transitional aged youth enrolled at Shasta College or CHYBA (California Heritage Youth Build Academy), a charter high school that helps transitional aged youth achieve a high school diploma.

Why help TAY students?  Many of these young people have aged out of the foster care system and are no longer receiving assistance from the care system that previously provided for many of their needs.  Others have left homes where violence and substance abuse were intolerable.  Like so many of us when we were young, they are struggling to get started in their life but don’t have the supportive adults that many of us had.  Hill Country wants to help these TAY students by providing housing, employment assistance and continual case management support so that they can graduate and become productive members of our community.  They need a support structure that the Center of Hope is uniquely able to provide.

The housing unit will be composed of small efficiency apartments for sixteen TAY students.  It will be supervised by a 24-hour resident manager.  Our residents will be homeless students enrolled at and recommended to us by Shasta College and CHYBA.  These young people may have significant challenges in their lives but they have a vision for their future.  They want an education and they just need some supportive adults to help them reach their goals.  Hill Country can help them with that.  As in Round Mountain, part-time jobs will be available at the Center of Hope for these student residents.  They will have access to a Wellness Center with a computer lab and other educational and vocational training.  These students want to succeed and Hill Country can help them do just that.

A big thank you to Shasta College and CHYBA for working with Hill Country to help TAY students succeed!