[O'CONNOR] The Fenix Youth Project works to uplift unhoused and vulnerable youth through art, mentorship, and community support. And on Sunday, November 30th, their Sleepout event aims to raise awareness for youth homelessness, creating community, and connecting more young people with the resources they need. I'm Jenny O'Connor for Delmarva Public Media. The Fenix Youth Project was founded in 2014 by Salisbury entrepreneur Amber Green, who dreamt of becoming a resource for young kids in the area. Larry Roots is the interim executive director of the Fenix Youth Project.
[ROOTS] We just recognized the need for more advocacy and more more resources for the homeless youth community.
[O'CONNOR] The Fenix Youth Project has held many events to support their mission and have established other programs like the Next Ground Project, which is a free pre-apprenticeship program to help provide students with the proper background to thrive in the working world. Leah Letterman is currently a nonprofit management intern at the Fenix Youth Project and explained how they charge toward achieving their objectives.
[LETTERMAN] We're centering on creating accessible, youth -driven support for young people all across the Eastern Shore. We offer arts programming, youth leadership, opportunities, resource navigation for youth who need a safe place to land, and a big part is our outreach efforts and meeting them where they are and hoping to remove barriers for them to get help.
[O'CONNOR] And as the weather gets colder, the Fenix Youth Project is once again bringing awareness to the hundreds of youths who experience homelessness just on the Eastern Shore alone by partnering with Unity in the Community and My Neighbor's Dream Alliance in Chestertown for their annual sleepout event on November 30th.
[ROOTS] We're expecting all ages. In fact, We're going to have fun, games, and they would get to see what Minority Dream Alliance. It's a really nice kind of retreat space. So they would get to at least get to see what the grounds look like. And we have a lot of organizations out there.
[O'CONNOR] There will also be plenty of educational opportunities and activities combining green jobs with homelessness advocacy. Ella Samis is the program director for the Next Ground Project and runs a 10-week environmental literacy and job search program or COER.
[SAMIS] And the cohort that I teach currently, three out of four students live at the Christian shelter in Salisbury.
[O'CONNOR] With a first-hand relationship with at-risk and homeless youth, she explains why teaching these students and helping them earn certificates is so important.
[SAMIS] But I also think specifically on the Eastern Shore, There are a lot of opportunities for young professionals to be working in the green industry, but there aren't a lot of people with the necessary training and knowledge to fill those positions. So I just think it's a kind of a growing need and the goal of the next round project is to essentially create a new generation of young professionals in the green industry, but it's also going to support them getting a job later on and hopefully pretty immediately after graduation of the course.
[O'CONNOR] And Larry explained this event is the next step for creating job opportunities for these kids.
[ROOTS] Ultimately, what we plan to do is take all our cohorts once they've graduated or finished the course, and we plan to form a for-profit arm so that way we can actually send the students or the environmental specialists, out to perform tasks in the community and then they'll get paid so then they would have revenue.
[O'CONNOR] The money raised during the sleepout goes straight to the cause and any donations or support are helpful. Even if camping isn't someone's cup of tea, they are encouraged to come and go as they please.
[ROOTS] And we hope people come to sleep out but if you don't sleep out we understand but we just want people to come out and see what we have going on in the community.
[O'CONNOR] The event starts at 3 p.m. on November 30th and offers free mental and physical health screenings, as well as tables for partner organizations, games and activities with surprise athletes, dinner, a Q&A, a movie session, and much more. Fenix is here to lift youth and we invite the community to stand with us.
For more information on the sleepout or the Fenix Youth Project's mission, visit fenixyouthproject.org.
I'm Jenny O'Connor for Delmarva Public Media.
