Over 13,000 unaccompanied young people are surviving homelessness on their own in Washington state at disproportionately higher rates for Black, Indigenous, and other youth of color and young people identifying as LGBTQ+. Lack of housing stability, supportive connections and necessary services significantly impacts a young person’s transition to adulthood leaving their economic, social, civil, and political rights unrealized. But what can be done? Is it possible to not just prevent but ultimately end youth and young adult homelessness in Washington?
A Way Home Washington answers that question with an unequivocal “yes.”
Who We Are
A Way Home Washington (“AWHWA”) is a statewide movement to prevent and end youth and young adult homelessness prioritizing the existing disproportionality of homelessness rates among young people of color and LGBTQ+ youth. We partner with communities, agencies, young people, and leaders across Washington state to realign local and state youth serving systems to meet the needs of young people in ways that matter most to them and result in safe and stable housing. By engaging on a local level and creating a statewide network, we connect communities and provide opportunities to discuss common barriers and solutions for ending youth and young adult homelessness.
Throughout our history, we have focused on integrating evidence-based practices and applying Continuous Quality Improvement to test, learn from, and develop further innovative solutions. Ending youth homelessness won’t be achieved by maintaining the status quo; we think outside the box resulting in cutting-edge initiatives. We know that young people believe “nothing about us without us” and as a result, we have a duty to ensure that youth and young adults hold key roles in shaping and influencing effective systems change that leads to ending homelessness.
A Way Home Washington is a fiscally sponsored organization of TSNE (tsne.org).