LUZERNE CARBON NORTHAMPTON LEHIGH BUCKS MONTGOMERY CHESTER PHILADELPHIA LANCASTER DELAWARE Where it all began! SHELTER, COUNSELING, PREVENTION, 2014 LIFE SKILLS & THERAPEUTIC RECREATION FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES IN 10 COUNTIES THROUGHOUT PENNSYLVANIA. Valley Youth House is Message from the Board Chair proud to be chosen as one Valley Youth House does more than just provide a home of the Lehigh Valley’s for vulnerable, abused, and homeless youth. We partner Top Places to Work. with thousands of individuals each year to build a solid foundation for young people and their families. With One of only two social service agencies dedicated housing, counseling, skills training, health, chosen, Valley Youth House is honored prevention, and intervention services we empower to be selected as one of the Morning Call’s resilient young people in establishing promising futures. 2015 Top Places to Work Award recipients, as well as a Special Award winner 2014 was an important year for Valley Youth House. Origin Story for “Moving in the Right Direction.” We were nationally recognized for an innovative model We began in 1973 as a single shelter in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. Valley called Youth Artist in Residence, which exemplifies our Youth House (VYH) was open day and night; ensuring the vulnerable, abused unique work with youth and providing therapeutic life and homeless young people in the community had access to shelter and opportunities and experiences. counseling. Even then, we represented more than just a roof and beds. We were an organization committed to building a solid foundation for every individual who We formed new partnerships with other like-minded came through our doors. organizations, and focused our energies on collective community impact. As a result, That same dedication still drives us today, as we have grown from that first shelter Regional Integrated Collaborative for Healthy Youth (RICHY), was formed to provide in the Valley to over 100 residential facilities. Though our reach and programming on-site health care services and education to young mothers and their babies. This have vastly expanded to include skills training, health, prevention, and intervention collaboration includes Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Department of Family Medicine services, our mission remains the same. and the Network Office of Health System Research and Innovation, DeSales University For the past 40 years, we have been proud to be there for our community. Department of Nursing and Health, and Marywood University School of Social Work We stand ready to be there for future generations as well. Our doors remain open and Administrative Studies. – we just have more of them now. Valley Youth House was named a Lehigh Valley Top Workplace for the second consecutive year, along with receiving a Special Award for “Moving in the Right Mission Direction.” This award recognized the hard work and dedication of Valley Youth House Valley Youth House empowers and strengthens the lives of children, youth, and staff who work tirelessly with youth and families every day to improve their lives. families through inclusive programming that builds resilience and fosters growth and independence. With economic uncertainty and an increasing demand for philanthropic dollars ever present, assessing our effectiveness is more important than ever. At Valley Youth House, we are dedicated to staying on the frontlines and understanding the shifting Valley Youth House Pillars needs within the communities we serve. Led by a dedicated and strategic Board of INCLUSIVE Directors and Board of Governors, we will continue to grow and flourish. Your generous Valley Youth House helps all youth and their families, including the most vulnerable and continued support allows us to expand our reach to the most vulnerable children, who have been abused, have run away, or are homeless. This includes LGBTQIA youth, and families. Thank you, sincerely, for your help. youth and those whom have struggled to find success with other organizations and/or programs. VYH is there for all youth and families, including those with nowhere else to turn. RESPONSIVE Valley Youth House and our team members craft responsive, customized programs to meet the needs of youth, families, and communities. VYH’s effective “This award recognizes Lesley Fallon programming serves as a strong foundation for youth and their families. Board Chair, Valley Youth House RESILIENT the hard work and dedication Valley Youth House is resilient. From the youth and families that walk through its doors to the staff members and volunteers who work tirelessly to support them, of the Valley Youth House we do not turn our back on youth if an initial intervention is unsuccessful or if a young person is hard to reach. Rather, we welcome the challenge and keep staff who work tirelessly with working. At VYH, we don’t turn our backs at the first sign of adversity. youth and families every day COLLABORATIVE Valley Youth House collaborates with each young person to build a foundation for to improve their lives.” success. VYH does not merely offer a handout; we extend a partnership. VYH’s trusted staff is committed to partnering with youth, families and communities to Designed & Printed by Working Dog Press - Lesley Fallon help build healthy futures. 6. PROGRAM OVERVIEW & OUTCOMES 8. PREVENTION 10. INTERVENTION Jihad’s Story 12. CAMP FOWLER Perhaps no one is more qualified than Jihad to speak about the breadth of Valley Youth House’s programming because he has experienced so much of it firsthand. Without a stable home, at the age of 16, Jihad entered 13. YOUTH ARTIST IN RESIDENCE the Supervised Independent Living Program in Bethlehem. The program provided him with an apartment, a subsidy for food and other necessities, and began to teach him the skills required to gain self-sufficiency. He continued his journey in the Realistic Environment for Adolescent Living 14. RESIDENTIAL Program, the Transitional Living Program, and Adolescents Achieving Independence. His favorite memories are group classes where he learned how to budget, cook, apply for college and financial aid, file taxes, obtain health care, and 16. INDEPENDENT LIVING much more. “Valley Youth House 20. drastically changed my life. SPECIAL EVENTS My experiences there taught me to do something positive 22. GENEROUS DONORS and help somebody else down the road,” Jihad says. 28. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Not only has Jihad applied his experiences to gain Jennifer Hausman, independence, but his stability has allowed him to explore a myriad of interests such as video and music Adolescents Achieving production, screenwriting, and journalism. Jihad graduated from the Adolescents Achieving Independence Independence Counselor program at the age of 21. His final project was a video retrospective on his experiences at Valley Youth House, 29. THANK YOU TO OUR STAFF pictured with AAI in which he spoke of the people he met, the places he lived, and the lessons he learned. graduate, Jihad. Jihad still lives in Bethlehem where he is exploring his passions and working on a Radio and Television major at Northampton Community College, producing music for artists at a local studio, and improving his writing. 30. He plans on expanding his creative skills and diverse experience by obtaining a graduate degree in Journalism BOARD LEADERSHIP from either Kutztown University or Temple University. 31. LOCATIONS & EXECUTIVE STAFF IN 2014, VALLEY YOUTH HOUSE SERVED OVER Program Overview & outcomes 35,343 CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES. Program Overview & outcomes PREVENTION INTERVENTION RESIDENTIAL INDEPENDENT LIVING CMP - Child Mentoring Program/ Child Welfare Programs PATHS - Pre-Adolescent AAI - Adolescents Achieving Nationality Autism Respite Treatment Home Service Independence (Lehigh Valley & Native AFT - Adolescents & Families American Carbon & Montgomery Counties) Pacific .007% Referral Sources Project Child - A Lehigh Valley Together Shelters Islander .021% coalition to prevent child abuse (Lehigh Valley & Bucks County) AIC - Achieving FFT - Functional Family Therapy Other Age & neglect Independence Center .026% Other FIP - Family Intervention Program 4.75% Middle Eastern Outcomes SAP - Student Assistance Career Assist Network .025% Program Family Preservation Program Mental Housing 101 Health (Lehigh & Northampton Counties) for Homeless Families Asian Agencies Gender (Montgomery County) .05% .26% FPP - Family Preservation The SYNERGY Project - Life Skills Development Friend Street Outreach Program Program Other VYH .09% Unknown Programs Program 2% (Bucks & Lehigh Counties) Intensive In-Home Services - 2.75% Age 17+ Birth - Age 10 (Chester & Delaware Counties) 19% 19% YEP - Youth Education Program plus 5 other sub programs MGH - Maternity Group Home - Community for the Prevention of Destructive Multiracial Best Anticipated Agencies SWAN - Statewide Adoption Great Beginnings 3.75% Success 1.5% 15% Decisions & Permanency Network Services Caucasian Philadelphia Room & Board 61% TIP - Truancy Intervention (Philadelphia County) More than Program Expected Pride (Philadelphia County) Success No/Limited 23% VIP - Victim Intervention Program Services REAL - Realistic Environment for Provided Male 18% 49% Children’s Behavioral Adolescent Living (Lehigh Valley) Parent/ Relative Health Programs SHHF - Supportive Housing for 3.5% Age 16 15% Homeless Families (Lehigh Valley) Unfavorable Female Age 11 BHRS - Behavioral Health Success 51% 19% 2% Rehabilitative Services SHP* - Supportive Housing African American Program