6 March 7 - 13, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents S alathain Dunn, 20, sat on a couch at the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center one day in February. He’d been coming here for about two months and found that it had helped him both physically and emo- tionally. There are areas for recreation and spaces to talk to someone if that’s what’s needed. Dunn has been coming here regularly since being kicked out of his family home a couple months ago. His mother told him it was time for him to be on his own. He knew he needed help, but he feared being judged for it. “Everything here is what you need, clothes, shoes, every- thing,” he said. “These people are really here to listen and help. Every day, they come in here with the same attitude, ready to help.” The homeless center for people between the ages of 14 and 21 that Dunn has come to appreciate is run by an organi- zation called After8toEducate. Dunn first learned about Af- ter8toEducate online after looking for homeless programs. Asked what keeps bringing him back, he said, “The joy. The happiness. The love.” After8toEducate has helped him get medication he needs and connected him with schooling. “It might take a little time, but they do help,” he said. Asked where he stays when he’s not at the drop-in center, all Dunn would say is that he moves around a lot. Some days the youth center is packed, with up to 20 young people, Rebecah Silva, a youth outreach specialist with After- 8toEducate, said. The center assists young people from Dallas and from other North Texas cities such as Garland, Fort Worth and Rowlett. Some drop by for a quick visit throughout the day, and others stay for hours. Then, there are days when only one or two kids show up. Silva said sometimes the center has to turn people away if they’re showing signs of intoxica- tion. Some come just to charge their phone, while others might show up for clothes or a bite to eat. Clients might be trying to get their ID and Social Security card so they can find jobs. The center also sees many young, expecting mothers and does what it can to connect them to housing and other resources. Clients have access to Wi-Fi, showers and laundry facilities. “So, it’s just like coaching them and talking them through the processes of those, and it’s up to them to meet us half- way,” Silva said. “I think the tough part right now is they’re teens. So, like I said on meeting us halfway, we can set up those resources. We can help them set up those appoint- ments. But they have to get to those appointments. Some- times it’s just trial and error.” Many young people who could otherwise be served by her organization like to band together and find places like abandoned buildings or underpasses to stay when they have nowhere else to go. “They stay away from the adults,” she said. “That makes sense because they need their own space.” The Fannie C. Harris Youth Center can be that space. In this case, the age of a “youth” extends beyond the teen- age years. Once they turn 21, participants have one more year to receive services from After8toEducate. The center relies on donations from the community for items like food, clothing and toiletries. “If anybody’s willing to help us out, we’re always accepting donations,” she said. “Kids can eat so they run through stuff pretty fast.” The center has 35 shelter beds run by another organiza- tion called Jonathan’s Place, which is licensed to serve new- borns to 17-year-olds. Only students enrolled in the Dallas Independent School District can go through the intake pro- cess at Jonathan’s Place to get a spot at the shelter. Some youths who aren’t homeless also use the drop-in center be- cause they need the resources it provides. Many people After8toEducate serves are LGBTQIA+ youths who were kicked out of their homes after coming out to their parents or legal guardians. Others might be fleeing abusive households, getting out of jail or aging out of foster care with nowhere else to go. “A lot of them are running away from abusive homes and are just tired of being abused, so they end up at After8 at the drop-in site,” said Ara Grimaldo Saintus, the organization’s executive director. Dunn is just one of many that After8toEducate serves. And he’s one of many homeless youths in Dallas and across the country. Sarah Kahn, president and CEO of Housing Forward, the lead agency for the local homeless response system, said the All Neighbors Coalition, a group of organizations working to tackle local homelessness, tracks unaccompanied youths from infancy to age 24 who are homeless and not part of a family household or in institutional care. The coalition also keeps track of hotspots where youth homelessness is most rampant. In 2023, 193 unaccompanied youths were counted during the annual census of the homeless in Dallas and Collin coun- ties. Of those, 26 were under 18. Many more were counted in this age group, but they are in families. This group is notori- ously challenging to count in Dallas and Collin counties Nathan Hunsinger | UNFAIR PARK | >> p8 Dropped at the Doorstep Homeless youths can often go unnoticed, but not at the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center in Dallas. BY JACOB VAUGHN Case manager Alesia Ortiz plays a game of giant UNO with Marquise Williams, 20, and Ruby Hampton, 21, while security guard William Jackson watches the fun.
