YOUNG ADULT SERVICES

Young Adult Services refers to the variety of programming and resources that SLM makes available to all SLM participants who are on the cusp of transitioning out of care and/or who have recently aged out of state care at 18.

Silver Lining Mentoring has expanded services and support for its young people aged 16 and older through our Young Adult Services (YAS). Like all SLM youth, these young people need social and emotional support. However, they have additional, distinct needs, including securing stable housing and food supply, finding gainful employment, facilitating transportation, and developing leadership and self-advocacy skills.

The Young Adult Services program addresses these specific needs with the support of dedicated, clinically-trained program staff. Through YAS, young adults have access to key services:

  • Resource Brokering: SLM provides individualized clinical support and service referrals to meet the needs of young people that cannot be met solely by the organization. Examples of resource brokering include professional development, mental health assistance, and housing support.

  • CLIMB (Community, Learning, Interdependence, Mentoring, Belonging): This initiative within our community-based mentoring program that allows transition-aged youth and their mentors access to an intentionally designed life skills curriculum, workshops and other supportive spaces that that equip young people with the leadership skills and tools to increase their knowledge and confidence, as well as their ability to set and achieve goals as they work towards  navigating adulthood more independently. Youth also earn payments for their participation and completion of life milestones through CLIMB.

  • Participant Advisory Board: Through the Participant Advisory Board, SLM’s young people provide the organization with guidance and direction in ensuring that our programs are meeting participant needs in a culturally responsive, youth-focused, strengths-based manner. SLM staff aim to equip young people with the leadership skills and tools which allow them to use their voices as a form of self-advocacy. Young people are paid for their participation.

  • Graduated Match Support: Silver Lining Mentoring provides continued, age-appropriate support for the mentors of young people ages 22+ whose needs and face to face meeting frequency have changed.

amber

SUCCESS STORY

Amber

Amber was 20 years old, employed, enrolled in community college, and homeless when she engaged in Young Adult Services. She had recently graduated from SLM’s Learn & Earn program, and was building her relationship with her new mentor, Alia. Amber had diligently followed up on all potential housing opportunities, added her name to every housing waiting list, and was saving any money she could.

Finally, it seemed her journey through homelessness was at an end, as she had been awarded a rental voucher through her school. As she began to hunt for her first apartment, however, she learned that although the voucher would help her afford Boston rent, she would not be able to move in because she could not afford to pay the required security deposit and last month’s rent. She was also nervous about the process, and not sure what she should be looking for, and what questions to ask of a realtor or landlord.

Through her engagement in YAS, SLM was able to grant Amber the move in funds she needed. Amber’s YAS coordinator helped her with understanding the lease, making a plan for paying her portion of the rent on time each month, creating a monthly budget, and identifying her support system, including her SLM mentor.

Amber is now successfully living in her own apartment and taking pride in paying her monthly bills. She has reflected that the stability of her apartment, compared to living in shelters, has improved her mental health, and allowed her to take next steps in her career. Amber’s YAS coordinator continues to check in with her from time to time, to provide the flexible supports she needs to successfully live independently.

amanda

SUCCESS STORY

Amber

Amber was 20 years old, employed, enrolled in community college, and homeless when she engaged in Young Adult Services. She had recently graduated from SLM’s Learn & Earn program, and was building her relationship with her new mentor, Alia. Amber had diligently followed up on all potential housing opportunities, added her name to every housing waiting list, and was saving any money she could.

Finally, it seemed her journey through homelessness was at an end, as she had been awarded a rental voucher through her school. As she began to hunt for her first apartment, however, she learned that although the voucher would help her afford Boston rent, she would not be able to move in because she could not afford to pay the required security deposit and last month’s rent. She was also nervous about the process, and not sure what she should be looking for, and what questions to ask of a realtor or landlord.

Through her engagement in YAS, SLM was able to grant Amber the move in funds she needed. Amber’s YAS coordinator helped her with understanding the lease, making a plan for paying her portion of the rent on time each month, creating a monthly budget, and identifying her support system, including her SLM mentor.

Amber is now successfully living in her own apartment and taking pride in paying her monthly bills. She has reflected that the stability of her apartment, compared to living in shelters, has improved her mental health, and allowed her to take next steps in her career. Amber’s YAS coordinator continues to check in with her from time to time, to provide the flexible supports she needs to successfully live independently.

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