Leslie Brown is Program Coordinator with HEY

Volunteering is an excellent way to connect with community and is of course an excellent opportunity to give back. As part of our ongoing commitment to increasing volunteerism in the Bay Area we’ve been profiling our staff members and others in the community about their experiences with volunteering. Leslie Brown, MPA, is the Program Coordinator for  Honoring Emancipated Youth (HEY), a community project of United Way of the Bay Area.

One of my earliest memories of volunteering occurred when I was a child and was able to work side by side with my grandmother and mother delivering holiday baskets to needy families. Through my experiences volunteering and helping others  I began to understand the power and impact of individuals working together to achieve a common goal, which changed my life forever.

Recently I had the opportunity to volunteer for the Future Leader Program at UC Berkeley where I  participated as a community panel judge for a group of students. The students in the program participate in a one year intensive program where they are charged with developing skills that  empower them to become campus and community leaders. I was able to provide expert review and insight on how to work with and support nonprofit agencies. I found my experience  at UC Berkeley and my many other volunteer experiences giving back to others to be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling opportunities to shape and improve communities.

The future looks brighter for the hundreds of Bay Area foster youth who age-out of the system every year: The “HEY Guide: Housing” is now available to help them find safe, affordable housing in the Bay Area, as they make the difficult transition to independence. The Guide is also a resource for other “disconnected” youth, who lack traditional family supports as they transition to adulthood.

The Guide was researched and written by three youth who have experience in the foster care and homeless systems. It was released today, during the first week of National Foster Care Month, by Honoring Emancipated Youth (HEY), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary as an advocate for Bay Area emancipated and foster youth.

“Within 18 months of leaving the foster care system, nearly half of emancipated youth are homeless because they lack the resources and support to find safe, affordable places to live,” said Sara Razavi, executive director of HEY, a community project of United Way of the Bay Area

Former homeless youth Valarie Cizek and emancipated foster youth Dylan Ruggles created the guide with assistance from young, local designer Graham Misenheimer. Ruggles, a Mills College student who served on HEY’s Emancipated Youth Advocacy Board in 2006, came up with the idea for the guide after experiencing difficulties finding housing when he emancipated from foster care in 2004. Cizek experienced homelessness as a teenager and wanted to help others by contributing to the Guide.

The free guide can be downloaded at www.heysf.org. It includes practical advice about searching for, keeping and paying for various types of housing, as well as sample rental applications and leases, and interactive games to help youth evaluate a housing option’s suitability.
The “HEY Guide: Housing” is the first in a series of guides that HEY plans to produce. Future guides will focus on other issues relevant to youth who age out of care and other disconnected, transitional-age youth in the Bay Area.

For more information on Honoring Emancipated Youth, please visit the website at www.heysf.org