Jovenes, Inc.

Jovenes is one of LA’s leading agencies in the fight to end youth homelessness. We help youth ages 18-25 end their cycle of despair. A home and family for those without, Jovenes provides an innovative program of stable housing options, compassionate care, life skills training, and employment support to young adults seeking a path to life change. Our mission is to help homeless and at-risk youth become productive and integrated members of our community. Believing anyone can prosper give the right conditions, we deliver opportunities for personal growth and provide hope, comfort, and support where once there was none. Jovenes goes deep with each of the youth we serve, seeking to stabilize their housing situation and increase their economic self-sufficiency. Each youth in our program works with their case manager to develop and implement a service plan with the end goal of placing them into permanent housing.

The homeless youth served by Jovenes have come from group or foster homes, the probation department, immigrated, or are no longer able to live with their family. These youth have the desire to turn their lives around but frequently lack the skills and supportive mechanisms that are necessary for self-sufficiency - oftentimes the product of systems that did not adequately prepare them for the future. Although the youth we serve come from diverse backgrounds, four common barriers to a stable future are found throughout our target population. These challenges are: 1) Barriers to safe, supportive, and affordable housing 2) Difficulty accessing basic benefits and health services 3) Limitations to educational advancement and economic development 4) Overcoming trauma and emotional illiteracy. Jovenes’ provides the following housing options: emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, affordable housing, & rental subsidies.