For more than 75 years, Fresno Mission has walked alongside people experiencing homelessness, poverty and crisis. Through decades of serving adults and families, we have learned the crisis we see in adulthood often begins long before adulthood. That was part of the message Francisco Pelayo of Fresno Mission’s City Center [Pictured below: standing last from from left to right] shared at the recent Foster and Homeless Youth Education Network Symposium, hosted by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.

This year’s theme, “Breaking Down Walls, Brick by Brick,” brought educators, child welfare professionals and community organizations together around a shared goal of creating stronger pathways for young people experiencing foster care, homelessness and instability. For Francisco, the theme speaks directly to the work happening through Fresno Mission Youth Services.

For decades, Fresno Mission has been known for: Rescue. Restore. Empower. Today, our work with youth is challenging us to think about another word: Prevent. Not because every hardship can be prevented, but because reaching a young person earlier can change what happens next. Many of the adults who eventually arrive at the Mission have histories that began with childhood trauma, poverty, housing instability, disrupted education, abuse, neglect, or involvement with the foster care system.

“What if we don’t wait until the crisis reaches its peak?”,

Francisco says as a challenge to those gathered. What if we can build the relationship earlier, connect a young person to resources earlier and help create stability before a temporary crisis becomes chronic homelessness? That is the heart behind Fresno Mission Youth Services.

Homelessness Doesn’t Always Look Like Homelessness

Youth homelessness can be easy to miss. It can look like sleeping in a car or moving between friends’ homes. It can mean living in an overcrowded or unstable environment, trying to finish homework without a consistent place to sleep, missing school because transportation disappeared, or trying to hold down a job while wondering where you will stay that night. Sometimes, the young person experiencing homelessness is sitting in a classroom and doesn’t look homeless at all. That is why early intervention and strong community partnerships matter.

At City Center, young people can access support through The Landing drop-in center, residential services, housing navigation, case management, employment and educational support, and opportunities for connection and engagement. But Fresno Mission cannot meet every need alone. As Francisco shared, “We don’t need to recreate the wheel. We need to bring the wheels together.”

Through partnerships with schools, child welfare professionals and community organizations, a young person can be surrounded by people who each bring something different to the table: a resource, expertise, a relationship, a safe place, or an opportunity. Because a young person’s life does not happen in silos, a housing problem can become an education problem, family instability can affect employment and trauma can affect behavior. One challenge can quickly become another, which is why our response must be connected too.

We May Hold Different Bricks, But We Are Building the Same Community

Breaking down walls happens one relationship, one resource and one young person at a time. It happens when a teacher recognizes that something deeper may be happening with a student, when a young person walks into The Landing and discovers a safe place to go, and when someone experiencing housing instability receives help before that instability becomes chronic homelessness. These walls come down when organizations throughout our community decide that young people will not be left to navigate these challenges alone. As Francisco reminded the room, “We may each hold a different brick, but we are building the same community.”

You Can Help Build What Comes Next

Fresno Mission Youth Services represents a new chapter in our more than 75-year history, an opportunity not only to respond when someone reaches a point of crisis, but to reach young people earlier and help them build stability, discover their purpose, and move toward a different future.

You can be part of that work. Your gift helps Fresno Mission provide safe spaces, housing support, case management, educational and employment resources, basic needs, mentorship, and meaningful relationships for young people facing homelessness and instability. Together, we can reach them earlier. Together, we can help remove the barriers standing in their way. And together, we can continue breaking down walls, brick by brick.