To accommodate those in need, the organization transformed its parking lot in order to provide employment services, housing work, education counselors, access to phones and computers, and making sure young people felt connected.
Although the homeless services authority put more people in housing in the past year, the number of people falling into homelessness over the same period continued to exceed the rate at which people were being housed.
Carmichael said My Friend’s Place is a place for young people to feel safe and to belong and to reimagine how adults and providers community and systems might be able to help them achieve their goals and dreams and be the adults they aspire to be.
Through its transformative education program, Carmichael said My Friend’s Place, which does not have a physical housing facility, offers everything from arts education, to employment, employment training, access to supplies, support to go back to school, and skills building.
Carmichael measures the success of My Friend’s Place by the trust young people have for adults.
