THE BACK DOOR A YOUTH EMPLOYMENT SOCIETY
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Mission Statement
The mission of The Doorway is making change possible by empowering young people to take steps toward a better quality of life. The Doorway provides an opportunity for young people (17-30 years old), who want to exit the streets, to build independent and sustainable lives in society through a self-determined process. The Doorway uses a two-year planning process called MyPlan to support young people in identifying and determining for themselves what they need to do to get off the streets. This process helps young people identify immediate needs and challenges to plan for longer term change. Through goal setting and speaking with volunteers, young people gain the knowledge to actively participate in the change they want to make in their lives. We are a community here to listen without judgment and to give young people a safe space where they can tap into their innate wisdom and chart their own path forward.
About This Cause
The work of The Doorway is grounded in the belief that being 'on the street' is not about where you sleep but about how you think. It is not explained as only an economic condition. Individual young people at vulnerable stages of their development have arrived on the street, a culture and economy which requires the very young (in age and maturity) to learn and adapt to how to survive there. Many young people who have found themselves on the street have experienced foster care from a very young age and lack positive family and social networks. Due to environmental pressures many young people have incomplete educations and sparse employment backgrounds. Excluded from authentic membership in mainstream, many of our young people have missed opportunities to acquire proper identification including: birth certificates, government issued id, health cards, bank accounts and library cards. Many have experienced mental and physical abuse from a very young age. In their world, trust in conventional social structures has often been destroyed. They learn to survive on the street among other young people with similiar history, cultural knowledge and limited options related to mainstream life. Young people who have found themselves on the street have learned how to survive in a culture that exists within its own rules of engagement. Many young people on the street have developed tremendous survival skills and an ingenious entrepreneurial spirit. Many hold steadfast to their values and are very loyal to their chosen communities. Without a doubt every young person who finds their survival on the street is unique, has their own story and has numerous and varied strengths and needs. The Doorway supports young people in their transition from street life through personal thinking and planning, where the first step is the acceptance and mutual support inherent in authentic community membership. Every time a young person walks through our doors they are engaging in an ethical and accepting community where they begin to share in the mutual benefits and responsibilities of active citizenship. The Doorway model is grounded in what we have learned from young people: that exiting street life requires step by step personal changes to establish new patterns that facilitate and sustain life off the streets. We support this transition through MyPlan: a two year monthly planning opportunity and process. Young people define their starting points and goals for change, and build monthly steps as actions to learn what it will take to get off the streets through their own plans, failures and successes. Community volunteers offer useful information, solidarity and belief in each youth in each shared conversation. This process helps young people identify immediate needs and challenges and to plan for longer term change. As we believe in them, they learn to trust and believe in themselves and their ability to build their own lives forward to achieve their own goals. Their personal change is powered by their own internal strength, building their own capacity to succeed. In 2021, we began street outreach which takes us out into the streets to meet people and have genuine conversations with them. We are taking what is special about The Doorway, our listening and caring, to make someone's day better. We are providing food, drinks, hygiene supplies as needed, but the key is the conversation. If they are within our age range, we encourage them to come to The Doorway to continue that conversation and find out if The Doorway is for them. Regardless, we can provide assistance, make a phone call, connect them with other services, whatever is needed that day.