Give to the Max for The Link!

Please join me in supporting The Link for Give to the Max Day! 

I am proud to work as a program manager for the Community Navigator program at The Link. The Link provides crisis support, housing, and supportive services to around 2,000 youth each year across the Twin Cities Metro who are:

• Experiencing homelessness: Youth who don't have a safe place to sleep - often because they have been kicked out of their home, fled domestic violence, or aged out of the foster care system
• Sexually exploited: Young people who have been sexually exploited or trafficked - vulnerable youth are often targeted by traffickers who prey on their need for food, shelter, or a sense of belonging
• Justice system involved: Youth who are not attending school or who have been involved in crime - most often because of poverty or underlying trauma affecting them and/or their family

In response, The Link offers youth-driven programs that empower young people to transition out of crisis into safety and stability. Our staff work one-on-one with youth to heal from trauma, reengage in school, find jobs they love, build healthy relationships, and pursue their goals for the future. 

Every dollar makes a difference! For example...

• $25 helps provide a bus pass so a young person can get to work or a safe place to stay 
• $50 helps provide basic needs kits that Street Outreach workers distribute to youth on the streets while helping them find safety
• $100 helps provide a night of housing and intensive services to a youth or family transitioning out of homelessness or exploitation
• $250 helps provide one month of paid leadership opportunities to a young person on The Link's Youth Advisory Committees
• $500 helps provide a young person with the one-on-one support they need to attend school and work towards graduation
• $1,000 helps provide a deposit for a young parent exiting homelessness with their children

In 2023 The Community Navigator program was able to help 111 young people to work toward self-sufficiency and a better future by helping them to reach personal goals that they have established for themselves!