KD Sunday Spotlight: Action Housing's My Place program works to break the cycle of homelessness
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - If you step inside the Uptown Lofts, you'll see it's a special place that holds twenty-four apartments off 5th Avenue, in Pittsburgh.
Xavier Little John lives in one of those apartment units.
"I just loved it and I had to move in immediately," he said with a laugh.
Inside the units, you'll see it's a well-cared-for space and if you speak with Little John, you'll realize how put together this young man is.
"I currently go to Pitt, I'm a second-year student, I want to get my masters in social work," he said. "So, I look up to someone like Miss Sharon."
He's referring to the My Place Director of Social Services, Sharon Langford, who works with foster care children. Little John works with Sharon because he grew up in the foster care system.
"Ever since the age of 12, I grew up in different foster homes and everything and it wasn't until like I turned 17-18, I was able to find a permanent family to live with," said Little John.
Now he has a fresh start at the Uptown Lofts, all thanks to Action Housing's 'My Place' program.
"I just feel grateful and privileged," Little John said.
The Foundation for Independence portion of the program provides stable housing for eighteen-to-twenty-one-year-olds who are aging out of the foster care system.
Everyone here goes to mandatory life skills classes, and budgeting classes, and has regular meetings with a case manager, like Langford.
"You're going to come, you're going to learn the skills that you need to learn to the next level, which is independence," said Langford.
It's all about empowering foster kids to become successful adults. They teach effective communication and life skills. The program started in 2009 when Allegheny County approached Action Housing.
"They realized that housing is so important because when young adults were aging out of foster care, they were either becoming homeless or incarcerated," said Langford.
Now Action Housing is breaking that cycle with its seven programs under My Place, they've helped 265 adults on average each year.
"I marvel in, wow, I can't believe it, but you know my mind was really on doing the work," said Langford.
When it comes to work, everyone living at Uptown Lofts must also have a job or is looking for one. They pay 30% of their income to rent, but when they age out of foster care at twenty-one years old, they get all that money back.
It's a fresh start for young adults to build a new foundation, while learning, in a positive manner.
"Now you have an opportunity to create your own more healthy norms and values so you can be successful in life," Langford said,
Everyone leaves the program with permanent housing in place. Shaune Johnson said he graduated from the program and is now a Program Housing Coordinator.
"It really uplifts the community," said Johnson. "When I came into this program, that was the start of my stability."
Langford was Johnson's case manager.
"I grew up in some of the roughest neighborhoods," Johnson explained to us. I didn't live in one house my whole life. I didn't go to one school my whole life. I'm always used to bouncing around. I had just graduated college a year before that and I came home to homelessness."
This program helps house the homeless and it's breaking generational curses, by creating a space for foster youth to live, breath, and grow into adults.
"If you're coming from limited support; if you're having issues with finding housing; if you're having issues with stability this is an opportunity that can help change your life," Johnson said.
Uptown Lofts has one, or two-bedroom apartments for young adult foster men and women.
My Place services a wide range of young adults aging out of foster care.
They even have an Alumni Center, which is run by people who were in the program, and it provides additional housing and employment services after graduating.
If you would like to see an organization highlighted in KDKA's Sunday Spotlight segment, send Megan Shinn an email at mshinn@kdka.com!
