Avenues for Youth

Avenues for Youth partners with youth experiencing homelessness to achieve their dreams. Avenues does this by providing critical shelter, short-term housing and supportive services to homeless youth in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Avenues programs, which include shelter-based and transitional housing, host homes, and housing for young families are principles-based and evidence-informed. The principles grounding Avenues’ work include being trauma-informed and resilience practiced, non-judgmental, strength-based, and journey-oriented.

Avenues Values: Equity, Community, Respect + Dignity, Trust, Liberation, and Anti-Oppression

Avenues has significantly expanded in the past three years to support more youth and deepen its supportive services to ensure its impact on youth and the community is long-lasting and transformative. Today, Avenues supports more than 300 homeless youth annually through six programs. We operate two transitional living shelters, a young families program, and three community-based host home programs. Youth in Avenues'​ programs have onsite access to critical supports - mental health therapy, nursing, education and career supports.

Thanks to our supporters and partner organizations, Avenues has supported thousands of youth experiencing homelessness in our 24 years of operation, helping youth transition from surviving the streets to thriving young adults.