The Kindness Matters Podcast

Hope 4 Youth: Inside Minnesota’s Quiet Crisis and the Community Solving It

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A teenager can ace a math test at 10 a.m. and still have nowhere safe to sleep by 10 p.m. Our conversation with Hope 4 Youth’s associate director, Mark McNamer, pulls back the curtain on the hidden crisis of youth homelessness—and the clear, practical steps a community can take to solve it. We explore why 16–24 year-olds often fly under the radar, how couch surfing masks instability, and what it takes to turn basic needs into long-term stability without shame or red tape.

We walk through Hope 4 Youth’s two-part model: a low-barrier resource center offering food, clothing, hygiene, laundry, showers, and hot meals, and a 12-unit transitional housing program that gives up to two years of breathing room for education, employment, and mental health goals. Mark shares hard numbers from Minnesota—13,000 youth experiencing homelessness annually, up to 6,000 unstably housed on a given night—and what his team is seeing locally as demand rises year-round. Then we dive into outcomes that matter: gains in employment and education, stronger relationships, improved mental health, and significant reductions in justice system involvement and substance use. Along the way, you’ll hear how schools, coaches, shelters, and small businesses quietly collaborate to rebuild safety nets, and why parenting youth—30% of participants—are a critical focus for breaking intergenerational cycles.

What stands out is the culture: no shaming, clear respect, and youth-led goals. From partnering with landlords and covering deposits to work readiness jobs inside the center, the approach is practical, humane, and proven. If you’ve ever wondered how to help beyond headlines, this is an inside look at solutions that work, including their event in November, "Out of the Cold"—and the kindness that keeps them going.

If this moved you, share it with a friend, leave a quick review, and subscribe to our newsletter for future episodes and ways to get involved. Your voice helps bring more youth out of the cold and onto a path home.

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SPEAKER_01:

Hello everyone and welcome to the Kindness Matters podcast. I'm your host, Mike Raff. In this podcast, we promote positivity, empathy, and compassion. Because we believe that kindness is alive and well, and there are people and organizations that you may not have heard of in the world. Making your communities a better place for everyone. And we want you to hear their stories. On this podcast, we talk about matters of kindness. Because kindness matters. Hey, hello, and welcome everybody to the show. Thank you so much for joining us. I I really, really, really appreciate it. You are listening, in case you weren't aware, to the Kindness Matters podcast, and I am your host, Mike Rathbun. I think you were aware, though, and that's why you chose it. And I I thank you for um searching out, for looking for positive, uplifting stories, uh, especially these days when it seems like it might be hard to find. I don't know. Um, so I appreciate it. I appreciate you, and I thank you. And please remember to share this. Tell your friends and family that you found someplace happy to listen to a podcast. Um so today we have a really interesting show, and I I was not I was not aware maybe as much for the need for this organization as I as I hope I would have been. But my guest today is Mark McNamer. And Mark is the associate director of an organization here in Anoka County, Minnesota called Hope for Youth. That's the word hope, the number four, and the word youth. And they are a nonprofit that I'm gonna mess this up, Mark. They're a nonprofit that that helps young people, as the name would imply, who are experiencing homelessness or unhoused. And I I think that's absolutely fantastic. Welcome to the show, Mark. Thanks so much for being on.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for having me on, Mike.

SPEAKER_01:

So here's the thing. I I think when most people, when you say the word homeless or unhoused, whatever the case may be, most people in their minds conjure up an adult. Somebody who's disheveled, maybe is is experiencing mental health crisis or addiction issues. I don't think too many people think about young people.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, for sure. And I think a lot of people envision that person standing at the side of the road or um the person hanging out on the on the street in downtown Minneapolis, that type of thing. Yeah, and that's I think not just with youth, just as just across the spectrum, that's not necessarily the reality of homelessness.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but I mean so okay, there's so many questions floating around my brain. I'll try to get one at a time here. We'll we'll try to go through them one at a time. I may mix them up. Um how does okay, first I think we should probably start with the parameters. When your organization says hope for youth, how old are these kids that we're talking about?

SPEAKER_00:

So when we say youth, we're talking 16 to 24 year olds. So and that that is somewhat of a kind of nationally defined um criteria for kind of youth serving agencies. So um that that was kind of put in place probably 20 plus years ago um to really identify that age group, um, you know, from up to 24 years old.

SPEAKER_01:

So okay. I mean, at my age, a 30-year-old is still a youth, so kid, right?

SPEAKER_00:

And and I always like to kind of put it in terms of, you know, I have uh kids in my house that are college-age kids and they're not um uh, you know, they're pushing that 23, 24, and you know, kids come back and they they need assistance, they need guidance, and um, you know, so that's really if you put it into that mindset, that's really kind of what we're we're looking at is those young people that are still developing and looking for guidance and still trying to kind of launch themselves into the world.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, my youngest is 30 and still calls me for advice.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly, right? And they still move back in sometimes, right? Sometimes.

SPEAKER_01:

Sometimes they do.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um so how does a 16, 17, 18-year-old person find themselves without a place to live? And I realize there's no one blanket answer to this. Right. But um how does that even come about?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, really is a right, a really a variety of things. I mean, I think um um, you know, family dynamics obviously play a huge role in that. Um, and sometimes young people are you know fleeing domestic situations, unhealthy home life, uh, drug and alcohol use in the home. Oh and that kind of you know puts them in situations where um maybe they're just not feeling safe, not feeling like they're in a good environment. Um, sometimes it's just families that are down and out. Um, and oftentimes it's the older kids that are kind of pushed away or pushed out just because the families don't have the means. Um we do work a lot uh a lot with you know uh young people exiting foster care as an example uh when they turn 18 and just don't have a place to go. Um so it really is a variety of reasons.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I never actually thought about foster care because they and you hear the term aged out of foster care before.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01:

I never stopped to think about where does that person then go. Yeah, and and and I mean if they don't have info they exit foster care and they don't have somebody someplace set up, they're couch surfing or sleeping in their car or any number of things, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, right. And the I mean the the couch, the couch surfing thing is a I mean we can all probably think of someone we know um that's put up a kid in their in their extra room or on the couch, you know, maybe their their son or daughter brings someone home and hey, this my friend of mine doesn't have anywhere to go, can they stay here? So there's a there's a lot of that goes on that's you know really isn't isn't documented or isn't you know put out there in the in the world. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Now do you count those couch surfers as homeless for your purposes?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, for our purposes, yes, because you know, technically if they if they're unsure they can lay their head there that night. That that's kind of the definition of homelessness. So and again, if you look at how the federal government defines it versus the state versus you know organizations, it might differ a little bit, but there tends to be um kind of a general consensus of what what that is. So what defines homeless or unhoused and obviously yeah, and if you're working with us, it's better than another, homeless or unhoused. Um, you know, we used homeless. I know unhoused is um kind of a term that's being used now, which which fits, I think. It it puts a little less stigma on the on the individual. Um because they don't right, they're unhoused and they have no place to go. So um that's the uh right.

SPEAKER_01:

So so unhoused seems to be kind of a a a fad, do you think?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, a movement, right, of just redefining um you know what what homelessness is.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah. So how many kids are we talking about that that find themselves kids?

SPEAKER_00:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

How many uh individuals do we find are we talking about?

SPEAKER_00:

So if you look kind of statewide, um and we use we tend to use wilder researches, um, they do a study every few years, um, but they estimate that 13,000 Minnesota kids annually are homeless. Whoa. Um and on any given night, there can be up to 6,000 individual youth across the state of Minnesota that don't have a permanent um stable place to stay. Yeah. So and then if you if you kind of put that into Anoka County um in the work that we do, so last year we saw 650 youth total coming through our center, our resource center. Um, and that was, you know, even last year, that was a 30% increase from the year before. Through August this year, we've already exceeded that number. So um so we're seeing you know 650 youth already through the month of August at our center in Anoka. So now the those kids do we do draw those kids from you know northwest suburbs, and you know, it's it's not necessarily all Anoka County, but it's definitely geographically this area.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Right. Did is it okay, and something I I was thinking about, is there a seasonal influx? Do you see more um how do we refer to them as clients?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we we participants, clients, participants is generally what we say.

SPEAKER_01:

Um do you see more participants when the weather here in Minnesota turns ugly and nasty? I mean, does that fluctuate?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, it's interesting. Um, we've tried to we do graph kind of the what it looks like. Um in this the last couple years, I would say summer was um well, before the last couple years, summer would tend to be a little quieter. But that number, the it we seem to be plateauing at this higher number of kind of across the board, no matter what month it is. Um and interestingly enough, sometimes when it's really hot or really cold, um we're less busy. Um, and it's maybe it's just not moving around. I think when it's really cold, sometimes people are more opt to say, you know, you can stay here um until the weather warms up a little. But again, 20 20 degrees um in Minnesota, that's it's a tough, tough time to be outside, you know, sleeping in a car or in a tent or you know, in the woods or whatever it is. So that's um that's a tough, it's a tough deal.

SPEAKER_01:

So, any idea why you've been seeing the increase this year?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I think it's multifaceted. I mean, obviously, I um I think just current economic trends right now. There's you know affordable housing is really hard to find. Um, we were kind of talking earlier about our own kids and you know, kids that have the means and have the support that are struggling to find kind of decent housing. Um so you you think about that and then throw in, you know, um trauma and every everything else these young people are dealing with. Um that just adds to you know their ability to maintain employment and you know, you're homeless, uh, you don't know where you're gonna sleep, and it's hard to maintain a job, it's hard to you know focus on what you're where you're going and you know, future-wise. So I think I think that has a lot to do with it. Um and then I think um I I think some of our stuff is directly related to just the great team of staff we have that create a really nice environment. Um welcoming, we don't care who you are. Um, if you come to the door and you're you know following our expectations when you're in the building, which is pretty much respect, um, respect others, respect staff, respect volunteers, um, they can come in and get what they need. And then our team does just an awesome job of kind of creating that environment of not being you know um shameful or whatever for needing resources. Exactly. And I mean I think our ability to kind of um we were talking about the cow chopping a little bit earlier. When a kid can come in and grab three bags of groceries and then show up at the house with groceries, that goes a long way. Uh oh yeah, absolutely. You know, they're they're they're adding uh you know to the home environment and uh uh contributing um pulling their own weight, as it were. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01:

Um but uh so we should be clear now. Hope for youth, you have two facilities up here in in the Noka County, right? And then one is uh a youth center, and the other is go you go ahead and tell me.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, so the the a lot of what I've been talking about already is our youth um uh resource center, uh sometimes known as in the in the field would be called a drop-in center. Um we we we like to call it a resource center. Um so really that's a place where young people can come come get basic needs. We have a food pantry, we have a clothing closet, we have hygiene supplies, we serve hot meals, um we have uh um laundry, we have a shower, so you know, anything someone might need to just get basic basic human needs met. Um and then from there we have um four full-time um case coordinators that provide kind of one-on-one support and really start working with young people, kind of moving them forward and whatever they whatever it is, kind of self-identified goals that they have to kind of move forward. So um, so that's kind of our our resource center. Um, and then we in Coon Rapids, we have a 12-unit um transitional housing program. So it's 12 efficiency apartments, um, and youth can stay for up to two years. Um, and really it's a place where young people can come, have you know, get that housing need met, and then they work on you know, job, education, mental health, kind of whatever is going on in their lives. So um we just we have a ton of examples of young people that have kind of come through there just needing a place to kind of regroup um and end up moving on and uh really doing great things. So um okay. So that's those those are yeah, kind of the two two areas. Um obviously there's kind of intersects with inter intersection with all of that. Um, you know, we um with six over 650 youth coming through our center, they can't all move into our apartments. Um, but there's other resources out there. We definitely do not do the work alone. Last year alone, we partnered with 130 different other organizations and services to you know refer young people on to other housing options, you know, mental health services, education, employment, you know, whatever it is they're looking for. We we really try and utilize the community and other resources that are out there.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, and I uh I know, especially in Anoka, Inoka County, Enoka proper, if you will, um the community there is really, really, really strong. Um, I have I've spoken with a lot of the nonprofit um folk up there, um, Steve Griffiths over at the adult um Stepping Stone, um, and Rob Bergfalk um with Compassion Coffee. I know he's really committed to you guys.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, for sure. And we we partner closely with Stepping Stone. They actually provide emergency beds for our youth. Um, so we have four emergency beds at their facility. So if we have a young person that comes into the center and has nowhere to go that night, we we utilize them a lot. Um and we've um yes, compassion coffee is someplace we we connect with often too. So um and you're right, Anoka County is um not only just kind of the the service sector, but just the individual kind of giving and people that really want to give back to the community. When when we put something out there and say we need it, it it's pretty rare that we don't get it. So it's like boom, uh, this summer we did a huge kind of push for pack our pantry, um, and we had over 25 groups do um you know service connected things and you know uh kind of they they did the hard work of kind of calling people in and saying, hey, can you donate stuff? And then um so those coordinated efforts they they make a huge difference. Um and then just monetary too. I mean, it's when we do events and we have our uh our 10th annual 4K coming up next Friday at Bunker. Um it's um that's an event that uh that's on our website too, which we can talk more about later. But again, we will have links to all of that. We do a lot of events and um just uh people donate you know money on a monthly basis. Um and again, it's some people, you know, it's you know, whether it's ten dollars a month or you know, five hundred a month, it's it's everything makes a difference to kind of move our mission forward.

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh that's that's so fantastic, you know. And and I know you know money's tight these days, and it's probably maybe you're not getting the number of donations or the amount of donations that you're used to. But if you're thinking about donating to a nonprofit, you know, every dollar counts, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly, exactly. So nobody's we've actually seen, I mean, our um just with some of the the recent you know cuts and you know the the unknowns of kind of federal funding and the state the state is you know um pausing on a lot of things, like okay, we don't know what's gonna happen here. Um I would say our community and our private donors have stepped up uh to an unbelievable level. So we have a huge group of a huge core of volunteers that come in here, and first thing, you know, when all of this stuff kind of started happening, boom, people were coming to our door saying, How can we help? So there's um in in all of the madness sometimes, I mean that you see that you know uh that that positivity and people really wanting to help and that that kindness piece for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

So I was gonna say really restores your your faith in humanity, doesn't it? Exactly, exactly. Yeah. Um and I think when we talk about any type of homeless situation um out there, it's easy for some of us to just go, well, that would never happen to me. Or that would never happen to my kid. But these people existed in this world. It's a it's a theme that kind of uh runs through all of the nonprofits that I've been talking to. Um, whether it was Susan Dearson when she was uh executive director of NACE, the food shelf up here in Hamlake, or I think, I don't know. Um, or you know, anybody else, it's like uh some people, some individuals are like one bad event away from finding themselves in these situations.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Um, and it's you know, it really is about um having someone to fall back on, and we we see that a ton with the youth that come through these programs. Um they show up, they come back, um, they might be stably housed and maybe just need some groceries, um, or they just come back and reconnect. And um, so you if you put it into that perspective, and we've we talked a little bit earlier just about um you take a kid that's in from a stable situation and goes off to college, or I mean they come back, they have a they have that kind of safety net behind them. Um so um if if people can just kind of put that in their brain, like uh a relative or their own kid or a friend of one of your kids, um, just having that safety net and think about something that's maybe happened in their life that might have derailed them um from no fault of their own, or you know, things happen in life. Um so you you you put the the safety net behind them with with a solid family or solid friend group um that looks different than someone that is struggling already and has doesn't have that connection. So I mean that that connection piece is huge. Um so we really we really try and work on that. Um we we start with the basic needs and really try and build that relationship with young people um and let them kind of make the move. Um we don't push our agenda, we don't push, you know, we try and meet them where they're at. Um and 99 out of a hundred times that kid starts opening up and they start talking to our staff about what they need. Um and then that that's where the the the magic or the that uh you know stabilization and the the launch to you know self-sufficiency really starts.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, because these kids could be any kid. It might be somebody that you see today standing at a bus stop waiting for a bus, and three years from now they could be finding themselves where needing your assistance, right? Exactly, exactly. Yeah, it's um and we yeah, you can't you can't judge.

SPEAKER_00:

Um really too. The um the really interesting part is you know, some of these younger kids that are still in high school, that's their place. So they they tend to to make an effort to get there. Um, they show up. Um, so I mean, um if you if you have high schoolers in your life, there's there's probably people walking in the halls of that high school that you have no idea that their living situation is unstable. So I mean that's that's the power of the whole thing, right? It's um people want they want that stability, but it's like you don't know uh what the situation is of the person next to you.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, I I find that so inspiring that yeah, um somebody who's you know 16, 17 years old, hasn't graduated high school yet, they don't have a permanent place to live, but they drag their butts to high school every day.

unknown:

Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And and do and put in the work. And yet here they are.

SPEAKER_00:

And it, I mean, a lot of it too is um there's a lot I think that goes on in high schools that people don't realize. Like teachers, um, coaches, um I happen to be um my kids went to uh local set uh park centers, the high school they went to, and I know for a fact um the coaches and stuff in those programs are like, okay, we gotta feed these kids before games, and you know, so it they they just kind of do stuff like that, and um, and it's it's kind of unrecognized that you know all of this extra support kind of goes into kind of supporting young people that might not have the means um to even have a meal. So the coaches feed them? Well, well, I mean it's kind of it's it's become just part of the program, right? It's like yeah, you know, the booster clubs get involved and we're like, hey, they reach out to local restaurants and say, Are you willing to kind of feed our kids uh before game day or whatever it is? So uh some of that's about right with the school stuff too. It's um with with food in schools. I mean, they get a couple meals a day there. Um, so sometimes they don't necessarily have the means to have a meal outside of school, so that's another reason.

SPEAKER_01:

True.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh they find support and that type of thing within the schools, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, um, yeah, yeah. So you do the how long has Hope for Youth been been running anyway, by the way?

SPEAKER_00:

So we are celebrating uh 12 years. Um so we've been around for 12 years. So obviously it was it was started by Brian Swanson and Carrie Schoff are kind of the two um main main folks with the with the help from a ton of other people. Sure. Um, but really it was really volunteer-based. Um Brian saw a need and he said we have to do something. Uh so the the facility in Anoka is the same same location we've been in um for 12 years. Um it's probably changed a little bit. Like I said, it was very kind of volunteer driven and volunteer focused. Um and over time and over years, the organization has you know grown into adolescence, so to speak. Um really implemented a philosophical approach. And obviously, we have um we have 18 staff uh currently that work in a variety of different areas, not all full-time, but um so we've grown to an organization that um that's above and beyond any volunteer work, right? Correct, yes. And we have hundreds of volunteers that that step in and help us out too. So um and you know, it's all um that piece is it's kind of um the evolution from kind of that volunteer. Um, and Brian will tell you um we didn't know what we were doing, right? Um, and you kind of bring you know some professionals in and some people that kind of know youth work, you institute some you know, philosophical approaches, you you know, put policies and procedures in place for the organization, you treat, you know, make sure you're legally protected, you know, all those are all things that kind of happen over time. Um to make us kind of the organization we are today.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, wow. So now have you ever had um people who went through your program come back? Uh, you mentioned something about it before, and and what does that look like?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah. So we um interestingly enough, um, one of the young uh women that left our apartments, um, I think she's been gone year, year and a half. Um, she just stopped by the other day, didn't need anything, just wanted to reconnect. Um, so that's a really kind of a powerful piece. Um and then we we do lean into people's stories and really try and follow up with people too after they left just to see how they're doing, where they're at.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So there's there's kind of that component. And then, you know, as we stabilize young people, maybe get them into stable housing. Um, we'll put we'll help young people get into you know market rate apartments. Uh, and sometimes all they need is, you know, they need that deposit and first month's rent. They're working and whatnot, but it's really hard to kind of you know engage. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So we it's a huge investment up front.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And we try and um, you know, partner with local landlords, so landlords kind of know um they're gonna get extra support. Um and then we do have some county family homeless prevention dollars we can use for that as well. Um, but again, those sometimes those young people, like I I think I had mentioned earlier, maybe they just need some groceries um or they need help. You know, they've some medical situations come up and they need help with um a phone bill um or um their car breaks down. You know, those are all things that happen to us. Um sometimes can really derail someone from you don't have a car, you can't get to work, you can't pay your rent. So those are the type of things where we we we continue to provide that support kind of ongoing um until you know they're they're 25. So okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, cool. Until they're 25. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Um and you said you you guys do follow-up surveys, right?

SPEAKER_00:

To to measure improvements and yeah, so we um kind of started back in 22, uh 2022, really trying to um we were really good at the outputs, right? We're like, okay, we serve this many people and this many people ate meals, but so what, right? We wanted to make sure what we were doing was effective. So we really use our surveys as a way to number one, um, it it gives guidance on okay, what are some things maybe we can do better? Uh, but it also kind of just reiterates, you know, with support, guidance, and a stable kind of place that that's for young people. So um, you know, we had um this last year doing surveys, 71% are advancing with their employment goals, uh, 60% are advancing with educational goals. Um the piece we really focus on too is that kind of social emotional well being. So we're looking at healthy relationships, you know. So we ask the question do you feel like you have better? Healthier relationships with the people around you. And 83% of youth we surveyed said yes. Um, and the other cool one is improved real resiliency, so ability to kind of deal with unforeseen situations, and 80% of the people we surveyed agree yes. I I feel like I have improved resiliency. Um and then, of course, just overall mental health. Um, so 77% of people feel like their their mental health has improved. So again, you look at those kind of key areas, yeah. And those are all really important areas. Exactly. That's that's the key to kind of a healthy lifestyle and a healthy way of viewing life. Um, and again, people that are doing well in those areas are probably pretty good pretty good employees. Um, they're able to kind of focus and um maybe get their educational um goals you know moving forward. Those are huge pieces of of kind of what we're looking at. And the other kind of two really cool areas out of all of that is um we started asking the question about involvement with the uh justice system. So 84% of our young people said they have less or have had no encounters with the juvenile just or with the justice system, and then the other cool one is just reduction of drug and alcohol use. 85% say you know they're not using drugs or alcohol as a you know a um crutch or whatever. So those are you know kind of secondary pieces. We actually have some um office of juvenile program dollars that we use, and it really it's it's not about um it's it's pretty much a proven fact if you keep young people stable, stably housed, in school, um, you know, uh employed, they're not gonna they're not gonna be out getting in trouble on the streets. So I mean that's it's a huge kind of secondary, you know, positive out of the whole situation.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, that that it that that is huge. I mean and you look at crime anywhere, and and it seems like here in Minnesota at least, or maybe just because I'm seeing it on the news more, is that there's a lot of of youth crime and and it all goes back to those things, right? The stability, the the housing, the the work, what have you. And and as long as they have those things, yeah. Generally speaking, they're not gonna be getting in trouble.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. And again, you'll you hear us just say it's a it's a sense of hope, right? You have hope about yourself, you have hope about the future. Um, I mean it makes a huge difference in um what you do and how you you act, how you treat other people. You know, it's a it's a huge piece of kind of what we do.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah. Have you ever had a former resident come back and volunteer with you? Just curious.

SPEAKER_00:

I put you on the spot and we can we have. We actually um for a while we we employed someone that um was a former uh uh resident at one of our halls. So um, and uh we do have some interesting kind of new newer programming going. We're trying to do some work readiness stuff. So we actually one of one of the youth that comes into our um drop-in center is employed by us, and we uh he does some cleaning around the facility. So we yeah, we kind of work with him. So we're trying to do more of that type of stuff and even partnering with um local businesses and whatnot to you know maybe give our kids a a chance um with some guidance and direction. So just so they know that you know um we try and work with the employer to to work with the individual to say, okay, showing up on work is uh at work on time is good, and you know, those type of things that maybe they haven't learned throughout their lifetime or haven't seen it modeled very well coming from the environments they come from.

SPEAKER_01:

So I would think that that if I was an employer looking for an employee and I saw that they had been um through your program, I I I would that would put them up a little bit higher on my on my list of desirable qualities, I think. Right. Yep, yep. Well, Mark, you guys are doing such an amazing job, and you're you're making a positive difference in the lives of young people. And and I salute you. Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. You bet.

SPEAKER_00:

And you know, the the one big piece I think I left out um is 30% of the young people we see are parenting youth, um, which is a huge piece of what we do too. So we have 30% of those 650 are youth that have children of their own. Um, so we're uh you know, a big a big piece of what we're doing is trying to stop that, you know, that cycle of intergenerational kind of homelessness.

SPEAKER_01:

Um we do right.

SPEAKER_00:

So we I'm I I had to get that out there because uh it's a big piece of what we do. I mean, we provide basic needs support for those young people, housing, um, and and you you haven't seen you know a sad situation until you have a 19-year-old with a six-month-old baby that has nowhere to go. Um, and it's you know, it's heartbreaking, it's 20, you know, 20 degrees out, you know, zero, whatever it is. Um, and again, it's uh it's a reality of what happens, and it's um so just it's important that you know we recognize that and kind of help those young people move forward. So oh for sure.

SPEAKER_01:

I yeah, how do you even I mean is that something new that you're seeing? No, well, probably not.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, it's kind of been a pretty steady number the past few years. Um and again, you know, we are working with 24 up to 24-year-olds, so um yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

A little more frequent up there, but right.

SPEAKER_00:

If you if you go on our website, there's some cool videos and you know, um, stories about some of the young people we help. So, and there's a couple that uh comes to mind where uh you know uh they they were homeless and had some medical issues and just you know a lot of things going against them with with a child, and we were able to kind of stabilize them, help them get stabilized, and they're doing great now. So it's um right, and it's all about that finding stabilization and uh which um kind of moves them forward.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, I was not aware of that. I wow, yeah. Well, now you guys are really amazing.

unknown:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And again, there's a we have a ton of kind of uh success stories and some great videos and stuff on our on our website too, if people want to check that out.

SPEAKER_01:

The link will be in the in the show notes, folks, for for um Hope for Use website. Go there if you're field call, if you feel called to, you know, lend them a hand, volunteer, give them cash, whatever the case might be. It's a great organization, and they really are making an extremely positive difference in the lives of so many people all over.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Thanks for coming on, Mark. I really appreciate it, and uh good luck for good luck with your is it a 5K?

SPEAKER_00:

It's a 4K, so it's actually a luminary walk. So we do it at dusk um on the Bunker Hills golf course, and it's really kind of a neat event. Um, it's a it's kind of meant to be kind of a reflection as young as people are out when it's dark, just to think about what it would be like to be out there when it's dark uh with no place to go.

SPEAKER_01:

So I didn't put it together right away. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed there.

SPEAKER_00:

But hey, that's all right. But um it's a great great event, and you don't have to run or anything, you can just walk it.

SPEAKER_01:

So perfect for somebody like me.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, exactly. So well, thanks a lot for having me on, Mike.

SPEAKER_01:

You're very, very welcome, and we will be in touch soon. Take care.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. Yep, bye.

SPEAKER_01:

I want to sincerely thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Kindness Matters podcast with my guest, Mark McNamer from Hope for Youth. You may have noticed that during our conversation, Mark and I talked about uh the longest night 4K event that they have coming up. Unfortunately, that event is going to be over by the time that this episode airs. But please note uh they will be having another event that you can participate in, and that's out of the code event. Look for the link for that, how you can help out, how you can get involved in the show notes. I hope this episode left you feeling a little easier, a little more hopeful about the state of the world we all share thanks to kindness. If you enjoyed this episode, please feel free to tell your friends, family, and co-workers about us. And also, don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more uplifting content. It's free, and there's a link to sign up in the show notes. You've been listening to the Kindness Matters podcast, and I am your host, Mike Rathman. We will be back again next week with a brand new episode, and we would be honored if you would join us again. Until then, remember kindness matters, and so do you.