Hey Youth
Anne Lee
A social awareness campaign that supports hidden houseless youth in Metro Vancouver. Connecting youth seeking help to social services through accessible information beyond in-person outreach.
Overview:
Research shows that at-risk youth often require and lack diverse models of support, which include skills, education, health services, mentorship, and much more. Some of the key causes of this marginalized group are due to residential instability, individual/relational factors, family problems, and institutional and/or systems failures.
The challenge of accurately estimating youth houselessness is due to the fact they are a “hidden” population. This specific demographic is less likely to access services that they need for an adequate way of living.
Existing problems these youth have may worsen due to the stresses of street life, demonstrating an urgent need for interventions and outreach.
Problem Space:
Despite current Outreach Workers working in-person to connect unsheltered or at-risk youth to services, are there still those that might have been missed? If so, how might we expand the opportunity to reach them?
Service providers who work closely with houseless youth have highlighted that they may be disproportionately underrepresented. This indicates that statistics may lack reliable data in terms of accurately reporting the number of youth experiencing hidden houselessness in Metro Vancouver.
According to studies, the continued victimization of physical and psychiatric abuse could only increase over time, demonstrating the crucial need for these youth to access the services they need.
Taking these aspects into consideration, are there ways to successfully reach those that might not yet have not been outreached? Are there those experiencing hidden marginalization that can be connected to services? How might we reach the specific demographic? What does accessible information look like? What would centering on expanding outreach look like?
Thesis Statement:
My project seeks to create accessible information beyond in-person outreach to connect hidden and/or unsheltered youth to services and resources through collaborative, intersectional, and research-based methods.
I will be exploring how accessible information might look for hidden youth to investigate possible solution-based methods through collaborative engagement, educational resources, and connecting with people through organically cultivated spaces.
