Urban Peak

Programs: Overnight shelter and day services: homeless youth are invited to stay at the shelter as long as they are actively receiving services and making progress on their case plan for achieving self-sufficiency or reunification with family. When youth enter the shelter, they participate in an intake assessment to help determine individual needs and identify personal barriers to exiting the streets. With a case manager, each youth develops a case plan to achieve stability and self-sufficiency by building on existing strengths and accessing community resources. Components of case management may include mental health assessment and intervention; legal advocacy; individual, group and family counseling referrals; substance abuse counseling and support; independent living program referrals; transportation assistance; education assistance; assistance obtaining id's and birth certifications; peer leadership development; and more. Throughout our program services, urban peak has implemented an organizational structure and treatment framework called trauma informed care (tic). Tic involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma. We emphasize the physical, psychological, and emotional safety of both youth and staff, and assume that every youth accessing services has experienced trauma. In 2014, 339 unduplicated youth stayed an average of 40 nights each at the shelter. 44% of youth staying at the shelter exited to safe and stable environments.

housing services: urban peak manages three denver housing properties (studio and one-bedroom apartment complexes) with sixty-eight units of housing for youth experiencing homelessness. Additionally, urban peak oversees and provides case management to youth in more than twenty community housing sites through denver's road home and the family unification program. In total we manage eighty-eight units of housing for denver youth experiencing homelessness. Two of our properties serve youth with mental health disabilities and those with serious substance abuse addictions. Individual treatment, support groups, and case management are combined in our three housing programs to offer a stable and safe platform from which to achieve a life away from the streets. Every youth in urban peak housing has a case manager as well as access to education and employment programs, mental health and health services, transportation, life skills classes, and basic needs assistance. In 2014, 154 youth were housed through urban peak's housing program and 85% exited to safe and stable environments.

education and employment: because the majority of homeless youth drop out of school in order to focus on day-to-day survival, urban peak encourages youth to complete their high school education at their home school. As an alternative, urban peak offers educational counseling, tutoring, and on-site ged instruction and testing. A computer lab is open during the day and in the evenings so youth can acquire or enhance computer skills. Financial assistance for higher education is available. In 2014, 177 youth attended ged classes, and 22 obtained their ged and 31 others passed portions fo their ged. Urban peak provides employment counseling and job readiness training to equip youth with the tools and support necessary to obtain and keep good jobs - including resume development; application completion; interview skills and other soft skill development; work ethic development; clothing suitable for job search and interview; and personal makeovers (haircuts and styling, makeup tips, help choosing clothing, etc. ). Volunteers provide ongoing job mentoring to youth throughout the process. Urban peak also works with local businesses to secure job opportunities for youth, provide ongoing job retention case management to youth, and support to employers who have hired our youth. In 2014, 195 youth attended job readiness training, and 210 youth obtained employment.