Anchor House Grant Writer Nicole Cody authored this article, drawing on her conversations with Connect to Home staff and her firsthand observations of the program.
One of my roles at Anchor House has been writing grants. I am always in awe of the dedication and commitment of the staff at Anchor House, especially those who work directly with youth. They treat the young people in their programs like family. I always say that it makes my job easier at Anchor House writing grants because I write about such exemplary programs and an amazing team.
I had the privilege of interviewing two of these dedicated team members, Connect to Home Case Manager Shioban Peters and Peer Advocate Starr Dasman. Other integral staff members are Connect to Home Case Manager Breyana Vankline and Pauline Leung, the Director of Outreach & Housing Initiatives, who oversees Connect to Home, among other programs. They are also supported by two AmeriCorps volunteers, Maggie Ussery and Chloe Barth, who serve as Client Support Coordinators.
Most of the Connect to Home team is fairly new, with Shioban and Breyana starting in December and Starr in May. But they already seem like veteran staff.
To provide you with some background on Connect to Home, it is an innovative program serving youth ages 18-26 who have experienced homelessness, targeting those who are aging out of the child welfare system or have had past involvement with the Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P). Many years ago, DCP&P selected Anchor House to pilot Connect to Home in Mercer County, along with two other agencies serving Burlington and Camden Counties. The pilot proved successful, and Connect to Home remains in operation today. As part of the program, youth are given Section 8 vouchers to secure housing, and the Connect to Home team provides supportive services.
As Shioban explained, in her role as a Case Manager, she helps youth develop essential life skills and become more independent. The Connect to Home team meets youth where they are in their lives, whether they need their GED, help finding a career path, or are working on their mental health. Shioban says her workload ranges depending on the youth. Some enter the program and are now excelling, working toward or meeting their educational and employment goals, while others need more assistance.
As Shioban explained, “Life is about pivoting and building resilience,” and that is what she tries to instill in the youth she works with. She and Breyana, as Case Managers, talk with youth about taking advantage of the opportunities available through Connect to Home to help change the trajectory of their lives. The goal is for them to eventually move on from the program and become independent, which can be a struggle. That is why Case Managers prepare youth for the challenges and situations they will face as adults and help them develop the skills they will need in life.
They coach them for job interviews and advise them how to dress. Another important part of their work is teaching youth how to build and maintain a strong credit score and, when necessary, how to repair and rebuild their credit. This helps young people better understand how credit affects their ability to secure housing, qualify for a mortgage, and achieve greater financial independence. Connect to Home also offers affordable housing workshops and first-time homebuyer education. Youth also learn about being responsible tenants and landlords, finding reliable roommates, understanding mortgages, and recognizing that, in some cases, a mortgage payment can be more affordable than rent.
The team also addresses barriers such as transportation, which can make it difficult for young people to access housing, employment, and other essential resources. Another barrier can be a criminal record, for which we can connect youth with expungement services or other programs that help young people address the challenges associated with having a record. The team also hosts workshops on careers, housing and even, most recently, a cooking workshop, teaching them how to prepare meals on a budget, a valuable life skill. Case Managers also work closely with landlords and DCP&P and help youth advocate if they are having issues with landlords.
Many of the Connect to Home participants are parenting youth and often are struggling. It is difficult, as Shioban explained, because they are just learning how to be adults themselves while juggling parenthood at the same time. Supportive services are extended to the children in the program. Most recently, Connect to Home assisted one of the parenting youth in getting her daughter tested to determine if she is on the autism spectrum.
An important part of the Connect to Home program is having a Peer Advocate on staff, someone with lived experience similar to the youth in the program. As Starr Dasman, the Peer Advocate, explained, she has experienced similar situations to the youth in Connect to Home. “If the Case Manager can’t reach them, I can sympathize with them because of what I went through.”
As the Peer Advocate, Starr encourages youth to take job opportunities and fill out applications for employment or to advance their education. As she explained, she is “pushing them without giving them a push, that they are doing it on their own.” She said that the most satisfying part of the job is helping youth move forward, connecting with them on different levels, advocating for them in different situations, and offering her unique perspective on things she has gone through that were similar.
One of the biggest issues both Shioban and Starr identified, as Anchor House has during our strategic planning process, is the lack of shelter and housing options for young adults. Anchor House has the Emergency Youth Shelter, but it serves only youth under 18. Placing young adults in adult shelters, where they may be housed alongside much older adults, presents additional challenges and does not provide them with the supportive environment they need.
The biggest struggle that Shioban sees is that some of the youth don’t see that the end goal is to leave the Connect to Home program and live more independently. There are also limited affordable housing options once they leave the program.
During the interview, a Connect to Home youth dropped in who needed to talk to staff. I just wanted to share what I observed because I think it really shows what Connect to Home is all about. She is a parenting youth who is working full-time and thinking about going back to school. She shared some of the challenges she has been facing, including figuring out her next steps with her education and what she wants to study and with her employment situation, currently having a full-time job that pays the bills but wanting more. She worries about managing the costs of maintaining her own home and making sure she can provide for her daughter.
At the same time, she has also been making progress toward greater independence. She recently purchased her own car with advice and guidance from the Connect to Home team. The team also talked with her about looking at her finances and crunching the numbers to see if buying a home might be a better option for her down the road.
Shioban, Starr, and Pauline all stopped what they were doing and let her vent. They offered words of comfort and encouragement and helped her think through some of the issues she has been facing. What struck me was how they were able to support her with both the everyday challenges she is facing and her longer-term goals.
She shared with me how much she loved the program and how much it has helped her. Watching this interaction firsthand gave me a much better understanding of the importance of the Connect to Home team. Sometimes what a young person needs is not someone to tell them what to do, but someone who will listen, help them work through their options, and remind them that they can move forward.
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