The Friendship Club, which has helped hundreds of at-risk girls since 1995, is expanding its outreach with a new program to provide much-needed services to youth experience homelessness in Nevada County. Amost 200 high school students in Nevada County were homeless in 2018, a dramatic increase from just four years earlier. The fast-growing problem is hard to identify and often-overlooked in rural communities. ut homelessness is definitely a major problem in the region, say local officials.
The Friendship Club’s Homeless Youth Career Technical Education Program is connecting with homeless high school juniors and seniors – both boys and girls – providing them access to education and mentors, as well as social and emotional support. The Friendship Club was awarded $100,000 for a ilot program through Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding administered through the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras (HRCS). One of the funding priorities identified for HEAP addressed the need for homelessness prevention and, more specifically, the growing numbers of youth who are living in unstable situations, on the street or in cars.