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What started in 2017 as a100-day challenge to house 100 youth and young adults in Spokane has now grown into a collaborative effort to end youth and young adult homelessness. During the 100 day challenge our community housed 109 youth and young adults, 43 of those housed were minors. The number of youth impacted by this effort demonstrated the need for a long-term plan.
Following the success of the 100-day challenge, Spokane County United Way started the Anchor Community Initiative (ACI) in partnership with A Way Home Washington and the City of Spokane. United Way's Anchor Community Initiative is working to reduce and end youth and young adult (ages 12-24) homelessness in Spokane County.
In 2019 ACI started by creating a By-Name list, which provides a comprehensive list of every person ages 12-24 in Spokane County who are experiencing homelessness. With an improved data collection method in place efforts focused towards partnering with the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), an advocacy group of young people with lived experience with homelessness and housing instability. The ACI and YAB worked together to identify ways to improve the programs and services for young people. As YAB says, "nothing about us, without us." Additional system changes and efforts to improve access to services has led to a major milestone for our community.
Spokane has officially produced a sustained, measurable reduction in youth and young adult homelessness.
Spokane is the first community in Washington State to have a measurable reduction in active homelessness for any population and third in the nation to achieve this milestone.
United Way's Anchor Community Initiative is already tackling their next goal to reduce youth and young adult homelessness by 40% by October 7th of this year.
This work will have a lasting impact on our community.
If you wish to make a gift, and join 100 years of trusted giving, you need only to go to: PROVIDE INSTRUCTION FOR ONLINE OR PAPER PLEDGE TURN IN to record your annual gift for 2022. Every contribution – large and small – makes a huge impact in this community. Thank you for the work you do every day and for your careful consideration of support of Spokane County United Way.