Youth Outreach for Life
EMERGENCY NUMBERS Synergy Services
- Domestic Violence Hotline
- 816-HOTLINE
- 800-491-1114
- 24 Hour Youth Crisis Hotline
- 816-741-8700
- 888-233-1639
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Everybody Needs a Safe Place
Safe Place is the first step to help for any youth in crisis or at risk. This community collaboration program, operated by youth shelters or youth serving agencies make it possible for any youth to access help at locations including fast food restaurants, convenience stores, fire stations, libraries and city buses which display the Safe Place sign. Youth can easily find help at Safe Place sites in their own neighborhood whenever they need it. Safe Place connects youth to immediate help and safety and offers supportive services to both youth and their families.
If you’re having trouble at home, at school, or can’t deal with a serious problem, Safe Place is a way to get help.
Fast food restaurants, convenience stores, fire stations, libraries and even buses that display the Safe Place sign are places you can go to ask for the support you need. The people inside will know what to do to connect you to help.
So, if you have a problem you can’t solve, look for our sign. Any time. Any day. Every day. Safe Place is here for you.
If you are in immediate danger, or if you need to speak to someone about your situation, call the National Runaway Switchboard’s 24/7 hotline at 1-800-RUNAWAY.
Studies, including those done by Pew, show that one in five of youth who age out will be homeless within two years of leaving foster care.
Half won’t have a high school degree. Less than 3 percent graduate college.
National statistics are representative of our experiences locally in serving youth
Most youth become homeless because of problems in the home
Nearly half experienced physical or sexual abuse at home
Nearly half report their parents had been treated for substance abuse or mental health issues
Nearly half have witnessed domestic violence in the home
12-17 year olds are at greater risk for being homeless than are adults
One in seven youth between the ages of 10 and 17 will experience being homeless at least once during that time period.
40% report being abused or thrown out because of their sexual orientation
50% were told to leave by their parents or parents knew they were leaving and didn’t care
The Cost Of Dropping Out
Of all the problems this country faces in education, one of the most complicated, heart-wrenching and urgent is the dropout crisis. Nearly 1 million teenagers stop going to school every year.
The impact of that decision is lifelong. And the statistics are stark:
- The unemployment rate for people without a high school diploma is nearly twice that of the general population.
- Over a lifetime, a high school dropout will earn $200,000 less than a high school graduate and almost $1 million less than a college graduate.
- Dropouts are more likely to commit crimes, abuse drugs and alcohol, become teenage parents, live in poverty and commit suicide.
- Dropouts cost federal and state governments hundreds of billions of dollars in lost earnings, welfare and medical costs, and billions more for dropouts who end up in prison.
Children
- 1,500 children die every year from child abuse and neglect. That is just over four fatalities every day. 79% of the children killed are younger than age four.
- 80% of young adults who had been abused met the diagnostic criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder at the age of 21 (including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, & post-traumatic stress disorder)
- Abused children are 25% more likely to experience teen pregnancy
- Children who experience child abuse & neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violent crime.
- Children who have been sexually abused are 2.5 times more likely develop alcohol abuse and 3.8 times more likely to develop drug addictions.
- Synergy’s Children’s Center housed 110 children last year.
- 19% of the children served by Synergy’s children’s shelter are under one year old. 61% are under six years old.
Youth
- More than 2,000 young people in Greater Kansas City are homeless at any given time.
- Traditional homeless shelters don’t accept unaccompanied youth under 18.
- For the past five years, lack of space at Synergy House—which provides 60% of the beds available to the metro’s homeless youth—has forced Synergy to turn away one youth for every one that is served.
- 43% of homeless youth report being beaten by a caretaker.
- 40% of homeless youth report being gay and abused in their schools and homes for their orientation.
- 44% of homeless youth report that one or both of their parents had at some point received treatment for alcohol, drug or psychological problems.
- 314 young people were sheltered at Synergy House in 2007.
- The Street Outreach Services program served 1,630 youth on the street and distributed 19,923 items including food, water, clothing and blankets.
Women
- One in three women will be abused in her lifetime.
- 2,880 women are beaten daily.
- 40% of all 911 calls are domestic violence related.
- SafeHaven, Synergy’s domestic violence shelter, provided shelter to 304 Women and 225 children last year.
- Synergy’s Women’s Center hotline received 3,011 calls in 2007.
Bullying
- More than 500,000 “attacks, shakedowns and robberies” occur every month in secondary schools (National School Safety Center)
- An estimated 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students (National Education Association)
- 81% of boys and 72% of girls will be seriously impacted by bullying during their school career (National Journal of School Counseling)
- Almost 16,000 young people attended Synergy’s violence prevention programs last year.
- Statistic source from Synergy Services
reStart Inc. , an interfaith ministry with homeless persons, is committed to providing shelter and supportive services to homeless men, women, youth and families with the goal of helping persons move toward independence and self-sufficiency.
SUSAN JEFFERS
“In reviewing my life I saw that I often repeated the same mistakes over and over until finally I learned the lesson. But I also saw that the more I learned, the more doors of opportunity were opened to me. And they were literally opened. Many things I thought I had done by myself were shown to have been extended by divine help.”
Embraced By The Light, p. 115
“Forgiveness of self is where all forgiveness starts. If I am unable to forgive myself, it is impossible for me to truly forgive others. And I must forgive others. What I give out is what I receive. If I want forgiveness, I have to give forgiveness.”
Embraced By The Light, p. 116